Making sense of functional grammar-140816063126-phpapp02

MAKING SENSE OF FUNCTIONAL GRAMMAR (GEROT – WIGNELL)

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GENRE AND GRAMMAR, TEXT AND CONTEXT Edited by Berti Nurul Khajati, for the Limited Community of STKIP Panca Sakti BEKASI

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GRAMMAR

What do you think when you hear the word ‘grammar’? As a student in school you may have thought of it as a set of exercises to get right in English class. Now, as a person who is studying language in some depth, you will find that grammar is much more. This section is organised around the questions:  What is grammar?  Why do we need to know about grammar?  How can we characterise or talk about grammar?

What is Grammar? Grammar is a theory of language, of how language is put together and how it works. More particularly, it is the study of wordings. What is meant by wording? Consider the following for a moment: Times flies like an arrow. This string of language means something; the meaning is accessible through the wording, that is, the words and their orders; and the wording in turn, is realised or expressed through sound or letters.

Folk terminology

Linguistic terminology

meaning

semantics

wording letters/sounds

lexicogrammar orthography/phonology

In some theories of grammar, lexicogrammar is called ‘syntax’, which is studied independentlyof semantics. In other theories of grammar, wordings are characterised such that they are able to explain meaning. More on this in a moment. Edited by Berti Nurul Khajati, for the Limited Community of STKIP Panca Sakti BEKASI

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Why Grammar?

Why do we need to know about grammar? We need a theory of grammar or language which helps us understand how texts work. As teachers we need to knowhow texts work so we can explicitly help learners learn how to understand and produce texts – spoken and written in various contexts for various purposes. Several years ago one of us overhead a conversation between a Year 9 student and his geography teacher. The student was asking the teacher why he had received a low mark for his project. The teacher responded that the work ‘just didn’t hang together’. The boy asked, ‘But how do I make it hang together?’ The teacher responded by suggesting that the student make the work cohere. This example is not to criticise students or teachers. The student would have made the text ‘hang together’ in the first place had he known how. And the teacher would have explained in good faith had he known explicitly how texts, especially geography texts, worked. Systemic-functional grammar, presented in this book, perhaps more than any other theory of language, explains how texts, inluding texts read and written in schools, work.

Characterising Language This is where viewpoints begin to diverge. Notice that we’ve not used the term ‘the’ grammar of English. Instead, there are a number of grammars which differ in how they characterise language, depending on the purposes of the user. How people have characterised wordings, that is, devised theories of grammar, depends on the kinds of questions they have asked about language, on what they want to find out about it. Consider for a moment the experience of six blind men meeting an elephant for the first time. One blind man felt the tail and declared that an elephant was like a rope; another felt the trunk and decided that an elephant was like a hose. Another, feeling the ear, felt an elephant was like an umbrella. Each blind man developed a theory what elephants are like. Edited by Berti Nurul Khajati, for the Limited Community of STKIP Panca Sakti BEKASI

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Theories of language (grammars) are a bit like the blind men’s experience of the elephant. Each ended up with somewhat different perspective. And like the blind men’s experience, theories of language or grammar are not inherently good or bad, right or wrong, true or false. Rather, grammars are validated by their usefulness in describing and explaining the phenomenon called language. As teachers, wecan further ask whether the grammar helps learners and their teachers to understand and produce texts. As discourse analysts, we can ask how the grammar sheds light on how texts make meaning. To the extent that grammar can help with these questions, it is more useful than another grammar. There are three grammars which have had a major influence on schools in the western world in this century. These are as follows.

Traditional Grammar Traditional grammar aims to describe the grammar of standard English by comparing with Latin. As such, it is prescriptive. Students learn the names of parts of speech (nouns, verbs, prepositions, adverbs, adjectives), parse textbook sentences and leanr to correct so-called bad grammar. Writers are taught, for example, not to start sentences with ‘and’, to make sure the subject agrees with the verb (time flies – not time fly – like an arrow), to say ‘I did it’ and not ‘I done it’. Traditional grammar focuses on rules for producting correct sentences. In so doing, it has two main weaknesses. Firstly, the rules it prescribes are based on the language of a very small group of middle-class English speakers. Thus it can be used to discriminate against the language of working class, immigrant and Aboriginal students. (Consider Jeff Fenech’s heartfelt ‘I love youse all’.) Secondly,the rules deal only with the most superficial aspects of writing. Following the rules in no way guarantees that written communication will be effective, for the rules say nothing about purpose or intended audiences for writing.

Edited by Berti Nurul Khajati, for the Limited Community of STKIP Panca Sakti BEKASI

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Formal Grammar

Formal grammars are concerned to describe the structure of individual sentences. Such grammars view language as a set of rules which allow or disallow certain sentence structures. Knowledge of these rules is seen as being carried around inside the mind. The central question formal grammars attempt to address is: ‘How is this sentence structured?’ Meaning is typically shunted off into the too-hard box.

Functional Grammar Functional grammars view language as a resource for making meaning. These grammars attempt to describe language in actual use and so focus on texts and their contexts. They are concerned not only with the structures but also with how those structures construct meaning. Functional grammars start with the question, ‘How are the meanings of this text realise?’ Traditional and formal grammars would analyse our earlier clause as follows: Time

flies

like an arrow.

noun

verb

prepositional phrase

Tim

told

of a tragic case.

Systemic-functional grammar, on the other hand, labels elements of the clause in terms of the function each is playing in that clause rather than by word class. Time Participant: Actor Tim Participant: Sayer

flies

like an arrow.

Process: Material

Cirumstance: Manner

told

of a tragic case.

Process: Verbal

Circumstance: Matter


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In these last two clauses, the Participant (‘doer’) roles are realised by nouns, the Processes (‘doing’) by verbs and the Circunstance by prepositional phrases. But ‘flying’ and ‘telling’ are two quite different orders of ‘doing’, and in the above clause ‘like an arrow’ tells how time flies, while ‘of a tragic case’ tells what Tim was talking about. Word class labels are certainly not useless,but they will only take you so far. They do not account for differences or similarities to any extent. To sum up the main differences in perspective among the above three grammars, the following table is presented.

Formal (+Traditional) Primary concern Unit of analysis Language level of concern Language

Functional

How is (should) this sentence be structured?

How are the meanings of this text realised?

sentence syntax

whole texts semantics

= a set of rules for sentence construction = something we know

= a resource for meaning making = something we do


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EXERCISE

1. Each of the sentences immediately below consists of two clauses. Underline each of two clauses in each sentence. Get out of here or I’ll scream. Mike plays trombone and Pete sax. She gets crabby when her back hurts. The passenger, who was wearing a seatbelt, wasn’t hurt. The passenger who was wearing a seatbelt wasn’t hurt, but the lady in the back got a nasty bump. 2. ‘Time flies like an arrow’ was segmented as follows: Time flies like an arrow How would you segment: ‘Fruit flies like a ripe banana?’ 3. Identify in your own words what the purpose of each text below is. Circle all the Processes – the words which tell you that something is doing something, or that something is/was. Make a list of the doing words for each text; likewise list all the being/having words for each text. How does the choice of Processed used in each text reflect the purpose of the text?

Text 1 A man thought he was a dog, so he went to a psychiatrist. After a while the doctor said he was cured. The man met a friend on the street. The friend asked him, ‘How do you feel?’ ‘I’m fine’, the man said, ‘Just feel my nose.’ (Goldsweig, 1970)

Text 2 Birds are the only animals with feathers. These structures make up the greater part of the wing surface and also act as insulation, helping


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them remain warm. Birds are the most active of the vertebrate animals and they consequently consume large quantities of food. (Source: Year 7 Science student) 4. Change the wording of the following to make them less ambiguous. Caution! This door is alarmed! (K-Mart, Chatswood, New South Wales) Please excuse Lorelle; she has been under the doctor with pneumonia. (Note from parent to roll-making teacher) If fire alarm bell rings, evacuate quickly and quietly. (Official safety notices on back of toilet doors, The University of Sidney)


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THE CONTEXT – TEXT CONNECTION It was suggested above that we need a model of language that helps us understand how texts work to make meaning; this in turn enables us to facilitate learners’ interpretation and production of texts. Systemic-funcional grammar can do this. How? Because of the way this model of language explains the connections between context and text. We’d like to begin explaining the context – text connection with a propotion: All meaning is situated  In a context of situation  In a context of culture Take the utterance: ‘Just put it beside those other ones.’ The meaning remains obscure until we know that it was said to a removalist who had just lugged in another carton of household goods during moving one of us to Brisbane. Knowing the context of situation makes the utterance intellegible. Note that the meaning is also culturally situated. In the Anglo way of doing things, it is permissible to hire total strangers to pack our materials goods into boxes, haul them halfway across the country and then for these or other total strangers to tolerate carrying and being told where to put these boxes by women half their size! Removal is a cultural act no less than folk dancing. The utterance ‘just put it beside the other ones’ is meaningful within a context of culture and context of situation. Context of culture determines what we can mean through  Being ‘who we are’  Doing ‘what we do’  Saying ‘what we say’ This applies to all of us. Suppose, like one of us, you grew up in mid-western United States the eldest daughter in a large farming family. Being the eldest daughter in this circumstance automatically casts one in the role of ‘momma’s little helper’. That’s who you are in the family. This turn largely Edited by Berti Nurul Khajati, for the Limited Community of STKIP Panca Sakti BEKASI

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determines what you do within the family and what you say. Protesting that you don’t want to do the ironing or that the baby is a smelly brat isn’t allowed. Context of situation can be specified through use of the register variables: field, tenor and mode. Field refers to what is going on, including  Activity focus (nature of social activity)  Object focus (subject matter) So field specifies what’s going on with reference to what. Tenor refers to the social relationships between those taking part. These are specifiable in terms of  Status or power (agent roles, peeror hierarchic relations)  Affect (degree of like, dislike or neutrality)  Contact (frequency, duration and intimacy of social contact) Think, for example, how you say ‘good morning’ to members of your family, shop assistants, work colleagues. This simple actis very much a cultural one and clearly bespeaks social relationships (tenor). Mode refers to how language is being used, wether  The channel of communication is spoken or written  Language is being used as a mode of action or reflection For example, a mother talking her young child through a toilet-training session is spoken channel, language as action. Dr. Chris Green writing about toilet training in his book Toddler Taming is written channel, language as reflection. As language moves from action to reflection there is a progressive distancing from the actual event and the experience becomes increasingly vicarious.


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Understanding Texts – Reconstructing the Context When we (over)hear or read a text, we can reconstruct its context of situation. For example: ... we supervise the planting and inspect the harvest. And we buy only the pick of the crop. Our experienced buyers look for lack of blemish, minimum number of eyes, pure white ‘meaty’ interiors with firm frying consistency. What is the topic of the above text? Who/what kind of person produced this text? For whom? Do you think the original was written or spoken?

Field Tenor Mode

We are able to reconstruct this context of situation because there is a systematic relationship between context and text. The wordings of texts simultaneously encode three types of meaning: ideational, interpersonal and textual. Ideational meanings are meanings about phenomena – about things (living and non-living, abstract and concrete), about goings on (what the things are or do) and the circumstances surrounding these happenings and doings. These meanings are realised in wordings through Participants, Processes and Circumstances. Meanings of this kind are most centrally influenced by the field of discourse. Field: growing quality potatoes for french fries. We buy only the pick of the crop Participant: Process: Participant: Actor Material Goal Field: polar bears Polar bears Participant: Carrier

are

expert hunters

Process: Attributive

Participant: Attribute


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Interpersonal meanings are meanings which express a speaker’s attitudes and judgments. These are meanings for acting upon and with others. Meanings are realised in wordings through what is called mood and modality. Meanings of this kind are most centrally influenced by tenor of discourse.

Mood We inspect the growing plants every week. Declarative Brock, get those plants inspected right now! Imperative  Consider which kind of people are allowed to order others about. Brock, do you really expect me to believe this crop? Mr. Brock, I find your position untenable.  Consider the degree of informality or formality. Mr. Brock is fine, upstanding employee. Brock is lazy, incompetent fool.  Consider the attitudinal lexis (in italics) which expresses affect, the degree of like or dislike.

Modality Fortunately, Brock is an inspector. Unfortunately, Brock is an inspector.  Consider the Mood Adjuncts (italicized) which reveal attitude or judgment. The crop might be inspected. The crop should be inspected. The crop must be inspected.  Consider the modal operators (italicised) which reveal the speaker’s certainty. Textual meanings express the relation of language to its environment, including both the verbal environment – what has been said or written before (co-text) and the non-verbal, situational environment (context). These


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meanings are realised through patterns of the Theme and cohesion. Textual meanings are most centrally influenced by mode of discourse. The linguistic differences between the following spoken and written texts below relate primarily to differences in thematic choices and patterns of cohesion. This is yer phone bill and you hafta go to the Post Office to pay it – uh, by next Monday – that’s what this box tells ya – or they’ll cut yer phone off! All phone bill must be paid by the date shown or service will be discontinued. Textual meaning, or texture, is like a sweater. Two sweaters might be made using the same pattern, with wool of the same type. But one is knitted using large, loose stitches. This is like spoken language. The other is knitted finely, with close stitches. This is like written language. Both garments are made of the same materials and serve to keep their owners warm. But the texture of each is different. The relationship between context, meanings and wordings can be summarised as shown on the following: Context

Field

Semantics (meaning)

Text Lexicogrammar (wordings)

Ideational

Transitivity

(what’s going on)

(Processes, Participants, Circumstances)

Tenor Interpersonal (social relations)

Mood & Modality (speech roles, attitudes) Theme, Cohesion

Mode (contextual coherence)

Textual


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Because of the bi-directionality between situation and meaning, and meaning and wording, in turn, we can predict from the text to context, as you’ve done above. We can also move from context to text, as we do in writing or speaking. Given the following contextual configuration, we can predict, within reason, how the text might go: Field Tenor

activity focus object focus status affect

Mode

contact channel

= request for repair = security screen door in rented unit = real estate agent and elderly, widowed tenant = favourable, agent and deceased husband were long time friends = occasional = spoken; language as action

The ability to predict from context to text is critically important for text production (speaking or writing) and the ability to predict from text to context is essential for text comprehension (listening or reading). To understand something of the text – context relationship is to understand something of how literacy is possible.


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GENRE

When you read the incomplete McDonald’s text,you were able to reconstruct the field, tenor and mode of that text. You also figured out that it was an advertisement. That is, you understood the purpose of that text. Advertisements are a particular text-type, or genre. A genre can defined as a culturally specific text-type which results from using language (written or spoken) to (help) accomplish something. Think, for example,of a typical doctor-patient consultation. This consultation has a purpose. It takes place through a series of stages, and uses language in particular ways. So there isusually some sortof greeting; an invitation from the doctor for the patient to describe symptoms; an examination, during whichthe doctor tells the patient what the problem is, if known,and how it will be treated. If not known, the doctor explains that a referral is necessary. The consultation closes with some kind of leave-taking. This is how it is down in an English-speaking culture. In a community in which health consultation depends on reading entrails of chickens, this genre would be replaced by one rather different in staging and language used. So genresare culture specific, and have associated with them:  Particular purposes  Particular stages: distinctive beginnings, middles and ends  Particular linguistic features. Most people appreciate to the fact that Narratives (stories) and Procedures (a set of instructions for doing something), for example, differ in purpose and the way they begin, develop and end. It is our observation that it is the significance of characteristic linguistic features that unfortunately seems least understood. Consider, however, what skewing characteristic linguistic features does to the following text: Men think they are dogs so they go to psychiatrists. After a while the doctors say they are cured. The men meet friends on the street. The friends ask them, ‘How do you feel?’ ‘Fine’, the men say. ‘Just feel our noses.’ Edited by Berti Nurul Khajati, for the Limited Community of STKIP Panca Sakti BEKASI

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The original of this text is a type of Narrative. The purpose of the texts of this genre is to relate an amusing or unusual experience in an entertaining way. In Narrative, Participants are usually specific and individual. Processes are usually Material (acting, behaving) with some Verbals (saying) and Mental (feeling, thinking) type Processes as well. The verbs are in past tense. In the above rendition, the Participants have been made generic, asthough classes of things are under disscussion. The Process types have not been changed, but all the verbs have been changed to present tense. Use of generic Participants and present tense verbs are typical of Reports, not Narratives. This is because generic Participants and use of present tense verbs grammatically help Report achieve their purpose of describing the way things (natural, social and synthetic) are, as in the following: All animals cells have a number of parts in common. They all have a cell membrane. This is a thin ‘sack’ that controls which chemicals can enter and leave a cell. The liquid contents are divided into the nucleus and cytoplasm.... By the time you have worked your way through this book, we hope that you will understand the significance of the linguistic features which realise various genres. We further hope that you will know enough about the grammar to feel confident to try describing genres not yet documented in published materials. We hope that you will understand enough about the genre – grammar connection to be able to intervene in a direct and constructive way in the writing of students you teach. Above all, we hope that you will look back at this chapter and say, ‘Well, that’s obvious’, becouse inone way or another, we have foregrounded in this chapter everything we want to teach you in the rest of this book.


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CHAPTER 2

MOOD Edited by Berti Nurul Khajati, for the Limited Community of STKIP Panca Sakti BEKASI

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THE CLAUSE AS AN EXCHANGE

In the last chapter, it was stated that clauses simultaneously encode three strands of meaning: ideational, textual and interpersonal. Ideational meanings, meanings about things and ideas, are realised in the clause by options from TRANSITIVITY: Processes, Participants and Circumstances. Textual meanings, those which make language contextually and co-textually relevant, are realised in lexicogrammar through Thematic and Information systems as well as through cohesion. And thirdly, there are meanings through which social relations are created and maintained. These interpersonal meanings are realised in the lexicogrammar through selections from the system of MOOD. Here we shall begin focusing on the MOOD system. Thus, we are talking about the clause as an exchange. Making an utterance isan interactive event inherently involving a speaker or writer and an addressee (listener or reader). A speaker, in uttering, selects a speech role for her or himself, and, simultaneously and thereby, allocates a speech role to the addressee. If a speaker gives you some information, as we’re trying to do now,he or she is inherently inviting you to receive that information. If as speaker he or she offers you some goods (offers you a chopcolate, for example), or some services (offers you type up and distribute class lists), the speaker is inherently inviting you to receive those goods and services. Or if he or she demands information of you, inherently you are invited top give that information. And if he or she demands some goods or services of you (‘ooh, scratch my back just there, please’), you are thereby invited to render that service or provide the goods. We can diagram the foregoing as follows:


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give

invite to receive

demand

invite to give

goods and services

objects and actions

information

language itself

role

commodity

Combinations of options: give give demand demand

goods and services information goods and services information

= offer = statement = command = question

Of course, the addressee has some discretion: offer statement command question

+ accept acknowledge undertake answer

_ reject contradict refuse disclaim

These options are available even when the speaker is talking to him or herself, assuming roles of both speaker and addressee, in an inferion dialogue. Speakers are aware of the degree of latitude addressees have for responding. To restrict the addressee’s discretion a bit, the speaker can add a ‘Mood tag’ to an utterance. So we have: - Stay for a cup of coffee, won’t you? - We aren’t out of milk, are we? - You won’t touch Mummy’s scissors, will you? These Mood tags have the function of explicitly signalling that a response is required, and what kind of response it is expected to be.


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Exercise 2.1

In the mother-child chewing gum text below, identify offers (give: goods and services); commands (demand: goods and services); statements (give: information); questions (demand: information). What do the speakers roles suggest about the power relations inherent in the interaction? Mother Child Mother Child Mother Child Mother Child Father Mother Child Mother Child Mother Father Mother

: Who put chewing gum on the carpet? : I didn’t! : Who did? : Michael did. : No! : Yes. : No. : Yes! : It wasn’t Michael. : It was not Michael. : It wasn’t me. : Well then who else had chewing gum? : Nobody! : That’s right, so who was it? : That will never come off there. : Yes, it will. Daddy’s got chewing gum on him. Who put it on the floor? Child : I didn’t (smaller voice) Mother : Yes you did. (Hasan 1983)


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THE MOOD ELEMENT

In the chewing gum text, the verbal encounter is a kind of to and fro argument centering around who did or did not put chewing gum in the carpet. C : I didn’t M: Who did? C : Michael did. The above bits are called the Mood element. theMood element consists of two parts:  The Subject, whichis realised by a nominal group  The Finite element, which is part of the verbal group. I Who Michael

didn’t did did

Subject

Finite Mood

The remainder of each clause, if there is a remainder, is called the Residue. It That

wasn’t will never

Subject

Finite

Michael come off there Residue

Mood The Finite element is one of the small number of verbal operators expressing tense, modality and polarity. These are listed on the next page.


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Finite verbal operators Temporal: past did, was had, used to

present does, is has

future will,shall would, should

median will, would is to, was to

high must, ought to need, has to, had to

Modal: low can, may could, might (dare) (Halliday 1994:76) These Finite verbal operators also have negative counterparts, e.g. didn’t, won’t, can’t, wouldn’t, mustn’t. Sometimes the Finite element and the lexical verb are fused. This happens when the verbs is in:    

Simple past or simple present: ate = did eat; eats = does eat Active voice: they eat pizza = they do eat pizza vs pizza is eaten Passive polarity: they eat = they do eat vs they don’t eat Neutral contrast: go away = do go away.

This fusion of the Finite element and lexical verbs becomes apparent in the Mood tag: A panda eats bamboo, doesn’t it? The orchestra played well, didn’t it? Pandas have big feet, don’t they? In Declarative clauses, the Subject is that element which is picked up by the pronounce in the Mood tag. Subject

it = panda it = orchestra they = pandas


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Exercise 2.2

In the clauses below, identify the Subject and the Finite elements. Remember the easiest way this is to convert the clause into Declarating mood (a statement) if it isn’t already Declarative, then add the Mood tag. 1. Panda bears eat bamboo, (don’t they?) Subject = panda bears Finite = do 2. Bamboo shoots are eaten by pandas. 3. The panda cup is really cute. 4. What pandas eat is bamboo shoots. 5. There are two pandas in Taronga Park Zoo. 6. It is cold where pandas live. 7. To be eaten by a bear would be awful. 8. Eating a bear would be just awful! 9. It is bamboo shoots that pandas eat. 10.It is’t wise to annoy a bear. 11.It is tragic that bamboo forests are being destroyed. We have said that the Mood element consists of Subject and Finite. What is the function of eachthese elements? The Finite element has the function of anchoring or locating an exchange with reference to the speaker and making a proposition something that can be argued argued about. It does this in three ways: through primary tense, modality and polarity. Primary tense means past, present or future at the moment of speaking. ‘Now’ is the reference point. That special order came yesterday. The coming was before the time of speaking. That special order will come tomorrow. The coming is after the time of speaking.


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Through primary tense, we can argue over when an event did/will/should occur: That special order came yesterday. Has it arrived already? Or We needed it last Friday. Modality indicates the speaker’s judgment of the probabilities or the obligations involved in what he or she saying: The special order may come tomorrow. It had better! Or But we placed the order only three days ago. Polarity, positive or negative: There’s a unicorn in the garden! There’s no life in Mars.

No, there isn’t.

There might be.

Finiteness combines the specification of polarity with the specification of either temporal or modal reference to the speech event: You shouldn’t be there = negative polarity, median modality. He wasn’t well

= negative polarity, past tense.

The Subject is that upon which the speaker rests his case in exchanges of information, and the one responsible for insuring that the prescribed action is or is not carried out in exchanges of goods and services. Pandas eat bamboo

(don’t they)

I’ll make some toast

(shall I)

Turn that radio down

(will you)


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‘Pandas’, ‘I’ and ‘you’are the ones on which the validity of the information is made to rest in each clause in turn. Please note that validity doesn’t equal truth value; in ‘Turkeys eat bamboo’ turkeys is Subject, even though the statement is untrue. The Mood element – the Subject + Finite – thus the burden of the clause as an interactive event. It remains constant, as the nub or the exchange,unless some positive step is made to change it. So, for example, in the chewing gum text above there is a shift in Subject in Turn 4 from ‘who/I’ to ‘Michael’. And there is a shift in the Finite between ‘It wasn’t me’ and ‘Well, then, who else had chewing gum?’


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Exercise 2.3

The following clauses were selected from a text about Henry Ford. Locate the Subject and Finite elements in the five clauses following the sample clause. Henry Ford

built

Subject

his first car

Finite (past) Predicator

Mood 1. as

Complement

in his backyard Adjunct

Residue

the work

proceeded Pred.

Mood

Residue

2. a kindly neighbour

moved

his coal supply

Pred.

Complement

Mood 3. It

could not

out of his car Adjunct

Residue reverse Pred.

Mood

Residue

4. the driver

must

have been Pred.

Mood 5. then men like Ford

Complement

Residue started to use Predicator

Mood

very uncomfortable

the production line Complement

Residue


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RESIDUE

In talking about clauses as exchange,so far we’ve talked only about the Mood element, consisting of Subject and Finite. We shall continue our disscussion of MOOD by turning now to the notion Residue. Let us begin with the first clause about Henry Ford: Henry Ford Subject

built

his first car

Finite(past) Predicator

Mood

Complement

in his backyard. Adjunct

Residue

This clause displays a typical pattern of elements in the Residue, namely: Predicator, Complement(s), Adjunct(s). We’ll look at these elements in turn.

Predicator The Predicator is the verb part of the clause, the bit which tells what’s doing, happening or being. Thus, the Predicators in the above five clauses are: ‘build’, ‘proceed’, ‘move’, ‘reverse’, ‘have been’, ‘start to use’. There are also non-finite (‘to’ + verb and verb + ‘ing’) clauses containing a Predicator butno Finite element, for example: so as

to give

Henry

Predicator

more room

Complement

Complement

Residue giving Predicator

Henry Complement

more room Complement

Residue Edited by Berti Nurul Khajati, for the Limited Community of STKIP Panca Sakti BEKASI

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Complement

The Complement answers the question ‘is/had what’, ‘to whom’, ‘did to what’. Thus, in the examples provided above, the following items are Complements: this have the potential to be Subject. Henry Ford built his first car in his backyard. his first car answers the question: did to (built) what? a kindly neighbour moved his coal supply out of his half. his coal supply answers the question: is (have been) what? Then men like Ford started to use the production line. the production line answers the question: did to (started to use) what? so as to give Henry more room. Henry answers the question: to whom? more room answers the question: did (to give) what? The car had four bicycle wheels. four bicycle wheels answer the question: had what? It was a slow process. a slow process answers the question: is what? In the clause: His first car Henry Ford built in his backyard His first car is still Complement, despite the different word order in the clause, because it answers the question: did to what? His first car Complement

Henry Ford Subject

built Fin. Pred.

in his backyard. Adjunct

Mood Residue


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Adjuncts

Circumtstantial Adjuncts answer the question ‘how’, ‘when’, ‘where’, ‘by whom’. Henry Ford built his first car in the backyard of his home A kindly neighbour moved his coal supply out of his half in the backyard of his home and out of his half are Adjuncts, answering the question ‘where’. In: The symphony was played badly by an amateur orchestra during a concert Saturday night at the Performing Arts Centre ‘badly’ is an Adjunct, answering the question ‘how’ ‘by an amateur orchestra’ is an Adjunct, answering the question ‘ by whom’ ‘during a concert’ and ‘Saturday night’ are Adjuncts, answering the question ‘when’ ‘at the Performing Arts Centre’ is an Adjunct, answering the question ‘where’. These are called Circumstantial Adjuncts. There are several other types of Adjuncts. One of these is centrally relevant to the analysis of MOOD. The two which fall outside of Mood structure are Conjunctive Adjuncts and Comment Adjuncts. Conjunctive Adjuncts include items such as ‘for instance’, ‘anyway’, ‘moreover’, ‘meanwhile’, ‘therefore’, ‘nevertheless’. Those Conjunctive Adjuncts have a textual function and so fall outside of analysis of MOOD. That’s why ‘as’, ‘so as’, and ‘then’ in as

the work Subject

proceeded Fin.

then men like Ford Subject

so as to give

Henry

more room

Pred.

Comp.

Comp.

Pred. started to use

the production line

Fin. Pred.

Complement

are left unanalysed. Edited by Berti Nurul Khajati, for the Limited Community of STKIP Panca Sakti BEKASI

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Comment Adjuncts express the speaker’s comment on what he or she is saying. Comment Adjuncts include such items as ‘frankly’, ‘apparently’, ‘hopefully’, ‘broadly speaking’, ‘understandably’, to my surprise’. They express interpersonal rather than textual meanings but fall outside of Mood-Residue structure. Hence, ‘unfortunately’ in the clause below is shown as a Comment Adjunct (and ‘however’ as a Conjunctive Adjunct) but neither fall within the Mood-Residue structure. Unfortunately

however

they were too late

Comment Adjunct Conjunctive Adjunct Subj. Fin Comp. Mood

Residue

Mood Adjuncts, on the other hand, both express interpersonal meanings and do fall within MOOD structure, more particularly within the Mood elements. Mood Adjuncts relate specifically to the meaning of the finite verbal operators, expressing probability, usuality, obligation, inclination or time. The principal items funcioning as Mood Adjuncts include the following: Adjuncts of polarity and modality: (a) Polarity: not, yes, no, so (b) Probability: probably, possibly, certainly, perhaps, maybe (c) Usuality: usually, sometimes, always, never, ever, seldom, rarely (d) Readiness: willingly, readily, gladly, certainly, easily (e) Obligation: definitely, absolutely, possibly, at all cost, by all means Adjuncts of temporality: (f) Time: yet, still, already, once, soon, just (g) Typically: occasionally, generally, regularly, mainly Adjuncts of mood: (h) Obviousness: of course, surely, obviously, clearly (i) Intensity: just, simple, merely, only, even, actually, really (j) Degree: quite, almost, nearly, scarcely, hardly, absolutely, totally, utterly, entirely, completely Edited by Berti Nurul Khajati, for the Limited Community of STKIP Panca Sakti BEKASI

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Thus, in the following, ‘surely’, ‘of course’, and ‘already’ are analysed as Mood Adjuncts and are included in the Mood element: Surely

he

Mood Adjunct

wasn’t

being

Subj. Finite

Pred.

Mood Of course

serious Complement

Residue

she

had

already

Mood Adjunct Subj. Finite

met

Mood Adjunct Pred. Complement

Mood She

had

Subj. Finite

him

Residue

already

met

him

of course

Mood Adjunct

Pred.

Complement Mood Adjunct

Residue Mood Be aware that the same word can function differently in different structural configurations: She Subj.

can’t

hear

Finite

Mood

clearly

on the phone

Predicator Circumstantial Adjunct

Circ. Adjunct

Residue

where ‘clearly’ is a Circumstantial Adjunct, telling ‘how’. Clearly

the man

Mood Adjunct Mood

Subject

was Finite

innocent Complement Residue

Here ‘clearly’ is a Mood Adjunct, indicating speaker’s certainty.


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MOOD TYPES

declarative indicative

polar

Mood

interrogative imperative

Wh

Mood in English is realised by the positionin the clause of the Subject and Finite. Note how these two elements ‘move around’, depending on the mood of the examples below.

Indicative Mood Indicated mood is realised by ( ) the features Subject + Finite. The order of the Subject and Finite realises Declarative and Interrogative.

Declarative unmarked:

Subject + Finite

The car Subject

marked: Then

had

four bicycle wheels

Finite

Complement

Finite + Subject came Pred. Residue

the production line Finite

Subject Mood


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Interrogative

Polar (Yes/No Questions): Did

Finite + Subject

Henry Ford build

Finite

Subject

I

be using

unleaded petrol

Mood

built

Circ. Adjunct

Wh/Subject ^ Finite

a car

in his backyard?

Subject/Wh Fin. Pred. Complement Mood

Circ. Adjunct

Residue is

that thing?

Subject/Wh Finite

Complement

Mood What

in my car?

Residue

Wh-Questions: Querying Subject

What

Circ. Adjunct

Residue

Finite Subject Predicator Complement

Who

in the backyard?

Predicator Complement

Mood Should

his first car

Residue happened

one morning in May 1896?

Subject/Wh Finite Pred.

Circ. Adjunct

Mood

Residue

Querying Residue: Wh+Fin+Subj where C/Wh (Complement is queried) or A/Wh (Adjunct is queried) What

did

Henry Ford

Complement/Wh Finite

Subject

build? Predicator

Mood Residue Edited by Berti Nurul Khajati, for the Limited Community of STKIP Panca Sakti BEKASI

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What

did

Complement/Wh

Ford

Finite

do

Subject

in 1896?

Predicator Circ. Adjunct

Mood Residue Where

did

Ford

build

Adjunct/Wh Finite Subject

his first car?

Predicator

Complement

Mood Residue

Exclamatives: Wh+S+F+P where C/Wh or A/Wh What big eyes

you

have!

Complement/Wh Subject Residue How banal

Finite

Mood these examples

Complement/Wh Subject Residue How

are! Finite

Mood you

Adjunct/Wh Subject

‘ve Finite

grown! Predicator

Mood Residue


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Imperatives

In Imperatives the Mood element may consist of Subject + Finite, Subject only, Finite only, or they may have no Mood element. There will always be a Predicator. Don’t you put it there. Let’s put it there. Don’t put it there. Put it there.

(Subject + Finite) (Subject) (Finite) (No Subject or Finite)

Commands are variable in their realisation: Turn it down! Will you turn it down please? You really ought to turn it down. Why don’t you turn it down?

(Imperative) (Polar Imperative) (Declarative) (Wh-Interrogative)

Offers also don’t have a typical grammatical realisation. Have a chocolate! Like a coffee? I’ll make some toast. I’ll turn it up, shall I?

(Imperative) (Polar Interrogative) (Declarative) (Declarative+tag)

As we can see, there is no one-to-one correspondence between semantic and grammatical categories. Despite this, we rarely have any trouble distinguishing between commands and questions: for example, when a mother carrying a load of groceries into the house says to her son ‘Can you move your gym boots?’ The context provides an interpretative frame and only rarely do misunderstand the speech function of an utterance. This is one reason why we need a theory of language in which context is a central notion. As Halliday suggests: There is rarely any misunderstanding, since the listener operates on the basic principle of all linguistic interaction – the principle that what the speaker says makes sense in the context in which he is saying it. (Halliday 1994:95)


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Exercise 2.4

Check your understanding of MOOD by analysing the following text, which is divided into clauses for you. Key: S F MA P

= Subject = Finite = Mood Adjunct = Predicator

C A M R

= Complement = Circumstantial Adjunct = Mood = Residue

1. Once a man was walking in a park

2. when he came across a penguin.

3. He

took

4. and ( ) said,

6. ‘What should

him to a policeman

5. ‘I have just found this penguin.’

I do?

7. The policeman replied,

8. ‘Take him to the zoo.’

9. The next day the policeman saw the same man in the same park

10. and the man was still carrying the penguin with him.


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11. The policeman was rather surprised

12. and ( ) walked up to the man

13. and ( ) asked,

14. ‘Why are you still carrying that penguin about?

15. Didn’t you take it to the zoo?’

16. ‘I certainly did’

17. replied the man,

18. ‘and it was a great idea

19. because he really enjoyed it

20. so today I ‘m taking him to the movies!’


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CHAPTER 3

TRANSITIVITY Edited by Berti Nurul Khajati, for the Limited Community of STKIP Panca Sakti BEKASI

Page 38


INTRODUCTION

In this chapter we shall talk about the clause as representation. Through the system of TRANSITIVITY, we shall be exploring the clause in its who=does=what=to=whom, who/what=is=what/who, when, where, why, or how function! There are, in fact, three semantic categories which explain in a general way how phenomena of the real world are represented as a linguistic structures. These are:  Circumstances  Processes  Participants

CIRCUMSTANCES Circumstances answer such questions as when, where, why, how, how many and as what. They realise meanings about: Time (temporal): tells when and is probed by when? how often? how long? e.g. He goes to church every Sunday. Place (spatial) tells where and is probed by where? how far? e.g. He goes to church every Sunday. Manner: tells how  Means: tells by what means and is probed by what with? e.g. He goes by taxi.  Quality: tells how and is probed by how? e.g. He loved her madly, deeply, truly!  Comparison: tells like what and is probed by what like? e.g. He was jumping around like a monkey on a roof.


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Cause: tells why

 Reason: tells what causes the Process and is probed by why? or how? e.g. The sheep died of thirst.  Purpose: tells the purpose and is probed by what for? e.g. He went to the shop for cigarettes.  Behalf: tells for whose sake and is probed by for whom? e.g. He went to the shop for his mother. Accompaniment: tells with(out) who or what and is probed by who or what else? e.g. I left work without my briefcase. Matter: tells about what or with reference to what and is probed by what about? e.g. This book is talking about functional grammar. Role: tells what as and is probed by as what? e.g. He lived a quiet life as a bee keeper. These are illustrated in the following made-up text: Last Saturday night (Circ:time) the local council held a fancy dress ball for charity (Circ:cause) in the Town Hall (Circ:place). The Lord Mayor, who came with his current lady (Circ:accompaniment), was dressed as Old King Cole (Circ:role). He ponced around regally (Circ:manner), and then made a politically correct speech about the homeless (Circ:matter).

No more will be said about Circumstances here; however, you are encouraged to note the analysed examples throughout the remainder of this chapter.


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PROCESSES

Processes are central to TRANSITIVITY. Participants and Circumstances are incumbent upon the doings, happenings, feelings and beings. This suggests that there are different kinds of goings on,which necessarily involve different kinds of Participants in varying Circumstances. There are indeed seven different Process types identified by Halliday: Material

doing

bodily, physically, materially

Behavioural

behaving

physiologically and psychologically

Mental

sensing

emotionally, intellectually, sensorily

Verbal

saying

lingually, signally

Relational

being

equal to, or some attribute of

Existential

existing

there exists

Meteorological

weathering

Processes are realised by verbs. Traditionally verbs have been defined as ‘doing words’. But as the above list indicates, some verbs are not doing words at all, but rather express states of being or having. Moreover, there are different orders of doings and beings. For example, to write a funny story, to tell a funny story and to hear a funny story are three different orders of meaning. And to suggest that ‘Barry Tuckwell is the finest living horn player’ is to define or assign a unique identity to Barry Tuckwell. To say that ‘Barry Tuckwell is a fine horn player’ is to ascribe a quality to him which also applies to some other horn players. The statement places Barry Tuckwell in a class orgroup composed of fine horn players. So just as there are different orders of doing, there are different orders of being. The Process types listed above chapture the differences in orders of doing and being (i.e. of meaning) possible in English.


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Non-Relational Processes:Processes of Doing Material Processes Material Processes are Processes of material doing. They express the notion that some entity physically does something – which may be done to some other entity. So clauses with a Material Process obligatorily have a doing (Process) and a doer (Participant). The fuel ignites Participant Process The youngster Participant

wiggled Process

in his heart Circumstance

The entity who or which one does something is the Actor. There optionally is an entity to which the Process is extended or directed. This entity which may be done is the Goal. The exhausted bushwalker Participant: Actor The youngster Participant: Actor

wiggled Process: Material

dropped Process: Material

his pack Participant: Goal

his loose tooth Participant: Goal

The Goal is most like the traditional direct object, which we’ve told only transitive verbs may take. This is interesting since more than 40% of verbs in the dictionary are listed as being both transitive and intransitive. Have the dictionary writers made a mistake? Yes and no. The reason for the noncongruence is that verbs in and of themselves are not transitive or intransitive. Clauses are.


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There are two varieties of Material Processes: creative and dispositive. In the creative type, the Goal is brought about by the Process. Handel Actor

wrote Material

the Messiah Goal

In the dispositive type, we have doings and happenings. Kerr Actor

dismissed Material

Whitlam Goal

The bushwalker Actor

tripped Material

The gun Actor

discharged Material

Material Processes ‘take’ both the active voice (as above) and the passive. Whitlam Goal

was dismissed Material

The gun Goal

was discharged Material

by Kerr Actor

With the some of these, we are more used to meeting the Process in the middle voice (one participant). The fuel Actor

ignites Material

The gun Actor

discharged Material

How do we recognise a Material Process? Use the ‘do’ probe. What did X do? (to Y?) What happened to Y? Edited by Berti Nurul Khajati, for the Limited Community of STKIP Panca Sakti BEKASI

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Use of these probes tells us that in the following nursery rhyme, all the Processes are Material: Jack and Jill Actor

went Material

up the hill Circ:place

to fetch Material

a pail of water Goal

Jack Actor

fell Material

down Circ:place

and

broke Material

his crown Goal

and

Jill Actor

came tumbling Material

after Circ:place

There is no further Participant which may be incumbent on Material Processes, called Range.

Mental Processes Mental Processes are ones of sensing: feeling, thinking, perceiving. There are three types: affective or reactive (feeling), cognitive (thinking) and perceptive (perceiving through the five senses). These Processes differ from Material ones as much as the letter are physical, moving, overt doings. Mental Processes are mental, covert kinds of goingson. And the Participant involved in Mental Processes is not so much acting or acting upon in a doing sense, as sensing – having feelings, perceiving or thinking.


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Thus, the Participant roles in Mental Processes are Senser and Phenomenon. The Senser is by definition of a conscious being, for only those who are conscious can feel, think or see. We can of course attribute or impute cosciousness to non-sensate beings: e.g. That toaster doesn’t like me, I swear. The Phenomenon is that which is sensed: felt, thought or seen. That toaster Participant: Senser

doesn’t like Process: Mental

me Participant: Phenomenon

We can have clauses with Senser and Phenomenon: Mark Senser

likes Mental:Affect

new clothes Phenomenon

Senser only:

Mark Senser

understood Mental:Cognitive

Phenomenon only:

Loneliness Phenomenon

hurts Mental:Affect

Notice that several of these are bi-directional: Mark Senser

likes Mental:Affect

nice clothes Phenomenon

Nice clothes Phenomenon

please Mental:Affect

Mark Senser

I Senser

don’t understand this stuff Mental:Cognition Phenomenon

This stuff Phenomenon

baffles me Mental:Cognitive Senser


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Note that this is not the same distinctionas active and passive voice. The four examples immediately above are all active, but can ‘take’ the passive, and indeed the ‘please’type usually do: Nice clothes Phenomenon

please Mental:Affect

Mark Senser

(active)

Mark Senser

is pleased Mental:Affect

by nice clothes Phenomenon

(passive)

This stuff Phenomenon

baffles me Mental:Cognition Senser

(active)

I Senser

am baffled by this stuff Mental:Cognition Phenomenon

(passive)

In the above examples, all of the Phenomena are things, but thePhenomenon may equally well be a fact. I Senser

realise the difficulties Mental:Cognition Phenomenon

I Senser

realise the fact that there are difficulties Mental:Cognition Phenomenon

The fact that they were cruel Phenomenon

incensed Mental:Affect

Mark Senser

Mental Processes, like Verbal Processes, have the potential to project. Projection occurs when one clause suggests that something was thought or said (the projecting clause) and another, separate clause indicates what it was that was thought or said (the projected clause). The projecting and projected clauses are each analysed in their own right. In the pairs below, the first clause example does not project while the second does. Edited by Berti Nurul Khajati, for the Limited Community of STKIP Panca Sakti BEKASI

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1. I Senser

I Senser

realise the difficulties Mental:Cognition Phenomenon

realise Mental:Cognition

(that) there are Existential

2. I Senser

I Senser

difficulties Existent

know the man who called on you Mental:Cognition Phenomenon

know Mental:Cognition

(that) someone Actor

called on Material

you Goal

Behavioural Processes Behavioural Processes are Processes of physiological and psychological behavior, like breathing, dreaming, snoring, smiling, hiccuping, looking, watching, listening, and pondering. There is one obligatory Participant: the Behaver. Like a Senser, the behaver is a conscious being. But the Process is one of doing, not sensing. So we can have: She Behaver

lives in the fast lane Behavioural Circumstance:place


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He Behaver


snores loudly Behavioural Circumstance:Manner

We can have the enacted behaviour mentioned: He Behaver

heaved a great sigh Behavioural Range

He Behaver

threw a tantrum Behavioural Range

Range specifies the range or scope of the Process, defining its coordinates or domain. Range appears in several guises, so we shall return to it below. But in Behaviour Processes, Range names the behaviour enacted. Sometimes it it difficult to distinguish Behavioural Processes and Range from Material Processes with Goal or Range. Several examples of each are provided below to illustrate the difference. He He He He He Behaver

did took threw drew drove Behavioural

the shopping a nap a tantrum a ragged breath a hard bargain Range

He He He He He Actor

shopped took threw drew drove Material

two cases the spear a picture a Porsche Goal

In the first set, the Processes are physiological or psychological and the Range element names the actual process. In the second set someone or something is actually acting, sometimes upon someone or something else. Edited by Berti Nurul Khajati, for the Limited Community of STKIP Panca Sakti BEKASI

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Verbal Processes

Verbal Processes are processes of saying, or more accurately, of symbolically signalling. Very often these are realised by two distinct clauses: the projecting clause encodes a signal source (Sayer) and a signalling (Verbal Process) and the other (projected clauses) realises what was said. As with Mental Processes which project, the projected and projecting clauses are each analysed in their own right. She Sayer She Sayer

said Verbal explained

I

don’t like Senser

Mental:Affect

that she

Verbal

brussel sprouts Phenomenon

didn’t like

Senser

brussel sprouts

Mental:Affect

Phenomenon

The Sayer (signal source) need not to be a conscious being. The sign

says

Sayer

‘No Smoking’

Verbal

The alarmed clock Sayer

Material

screamed

‘Get up’

Verbal

Material

There are three other Participants that may be incumbent upon Verbal Processes:  Receiver: the one to whom the verbalisation is addressed  Target: one acled upon verbally (insulted, complimented, etc)  Range/Verbiage: a name of verbalisation itself John Sayer

told Verbal

Jenny Receiver

Keating Sayer

slurred Verbal

Howard Target

a rude joke Verbiage


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Examples of Verbal Processes are listed below. Some are used only for reporting: He denied (that) he had had anything to do with it and others for both reporting: He said that he had had nothing to do with it and quoting: He said, ‘I had nothing to do with it’. Reporting

Quoting (and Reporting)

insinuate, imply, remind, hypothesize, deny, make out, claim pretend, maintain

say, tell, remark, observe, continue, point out, report, announce, shout, cry, ask, demand, inquire, query, interrupt, replay, explain, protest, warn, insist

There is one further Participant role that needs to be discussed. This is Beneficiary. The Beneficiary is the one to whom or for whom the Process is said to take place. In Material Processes the Beneficiary is either the Recipient or the Client. Recipient is the one to whom goods are given. The Client is the one for whom services are provided. 1. I Actor

sold Material

the car Goal

to John Recipient

I Actor

sold Material

(to) John Recipient

the car Goal

2. They Actor

threw Material

a farewell party Goal

for Jane Client

They Actor

threw Material

(for) Jane Client

a farewell party Goal


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To find out if a prepositional phrase with to or for is a Beneficiary or not, see if it could occur naturally without the preposition, as in the second example in each of the above pairs. In Verbal Processes the Beneficiary is Receiver, a Participant role we’ve already met. The Receiver is the one who is being addressed. The Receiver is also sometimes called the addressee. You Sayer

promised

the doctor

Verbal

Receiver

you Actor

‘d quit smoking Material

Range Range is the element that specifies the scope or domain of the Process. The Range in Material Processes typically occurs in the middle clauses, those with Actor only, no Goal. She Actor

dropped Material

a curtsy Range

She Actor

dropped Material

an egg Goal

Another distinction is that Material Processes with Goal can ‘take’ resultative attributes, while Material Processes with Range cannot. Kelly Actor

shot Material

Fuller Goal

dead Resultative Attribute

She Actor

dropped Material

a curtsy Range

dead


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Also in Material Processes with Goals, the Goal can be changed into an appropriate pronoun and still make sense in context: Kelly shot Fuller dead.

Kelly shot him dead.

This doesn’t work with Material Processes with Range: He dropped a curtsy.

He dropped it.

The ‘doing’ type Processes, their meanings and key Participants are summarised below. Process Type

Category Meaning

Participants

Material Behavioural Mental Verbal

doing, happening behaving sensing saying, signalling

Actor, Goal Behaver, Range Senser, Phenomenon Sayer, Target, Receiver


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Exercise 3.1

Analyse the following short text for TRANSITIVITY. You will need first to identify the Processes and then assign the appropriate Participant roles. Then identify the Circumstantial elements, if present. I was driving along the coast road when the car suddenly lurched to one side. At first I thought a tyre had gone but then I saw telegraph poles collapsing like matchsticks. The rocks came tumbling across the road and I had to abandon the car. When I got back to town, well, as I said, there wasn’t much left. (Adkins and McKean 1983:21) I

was driving

along the coast road

when

the car

At first

I

thought

but then

I

saw

suddenly ******** (that)

collapsing

like matchsticks.

The rocks

came tumbling

lurched

a tyre

to one side.

had gone

telegraph poles

across the road

and

I

had to abandon

the car.

When

I

got back

to town,


Page 53

well, as


I

said

there

wasn’t

much left.

Relational Processes: Processes of Being and Having Relational Processes involve states of being (including having). They can be classified according to whether tey are being used to identify something (Barry Tuckwell may be the finest living horn player) or to assign a quality to something (Barry Tuckwell is a fine horn player). Processes which establish an identity are called Identifying Processes and Processes which assign a quality are called Attributive Processes. Each has its own characteristic Participant roles. In Attributive these are Carrier and Attribute. Barry Tuckwell

is

a fine horn player

In Identifying Processes the Participants roles are Token and Value. Barry Tuckwell

may be

the finest living horn player

Relational Processes can be further sub-classified according to whether they are: intensive, possessive or circumstantial. Intensive Possessive Circumstantial Circumstance as Attribute Circumstance as Process

Paul Keating is arrogant. Paul Keating has dark hair. The yolk is in the centre. Albumen sorrounds the yolk.

The options available to Relational Processes can be shown as presented on the next page:


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Attributive:

Carrier, Attribute

Identifying:

Token, Value

Relational Processes Intensive Possessive Circumstantial This network indicates that all Relational Processes are either Attributive or Identifying, and at the same time, are either intensive, possessive or circumstantial. This gives a paradigm of six possibilities. Cytoplasm Carrier

is Attributive:intensive

sort of a jelly-like material Attribute

Plant cells Carrier

have Attributive:possessive

a cell wall Attribute

The shell The yolk Carrier

appears transparent is inside the albumen Attributive:circumstantial Attribute

The nucleus Token

is Identifying:intensive

The transducer is All cells contain Token Identifying:possessive Tuesday Albumen Token

the brain of the cell Value Dr Buick’s cytoplasm Value

was the deadline sorrounds the yolk Identifying:circumstantial Value


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Relational Processes play a key role ineducation in subjects such as science, geography, mathematics and economics. It ti through these Processes that these subjects create an ordered technical vocabulary, and a way of classifying the world. They are fundamental in how the above-mentioned subjects construct the world. It is sometimes difficult to tell whether a Relational Process is Identifying or Attributive. Perhaps the easiest way to distinguish between them is that Identifying Processes are reversible. That is, the clause can be reversed in order and the semantic relationship still holds. For example: Barry Tuckwell Token

may be Identifying:intensive

The finest living horn player may be Value Identifying:intensive

the finest living horn player Value Barry Tuckwell Token

In each case the role (the finest living horn player) and the occupant (Barry Tucwell) are the same. If we take a difficult case such as: A whale Carrier

is Attributive:intensive

a mammal Attribute

We find that, while it is reversible – a mammal is a whale – the relationship does not hold from the original. That is, while all whales a are mammals, all mammals are not whales, as ‘a mammal is a whale’ suggests. The clause – a whale is a mammal – is assigning class membership, not identification. The reversibility test works because Identifying Processes have a passive voice; that is, the clause can be made passive. However, is does not change its form when it is passive so a further test is to substitute a Relational Process which does change. For example: The nucleus The nucleus Token

is comprises Identifying:intensive

the brain of the cell the brain of the cell Value


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The brain of the cell is comprised of Value Identifying:intensive

the nucleus Token

Exercise 3.2 Halliday defines Value as a referent, function or status, and Token as the sign, name, form, holder, occupant. In general terms, the Value will be more abstract, general and will provide the category. Token is more concrete, more specific and provides the instance. Try identifying the Token and Value in each of the following clauses. You could use one colour for Token and another for Value. 1. Six undergraduate students served as subjects for the experiment. 2. Increased responsiveness may be reflected in feeding behaviour. 3. His attitude constitutes the greatest barrier to progress. 4. X = 2 5. This outline represents my first attempt at a plan of the course. 6. The kulaks were the one who employed others. 7. That’s one of the points that Galbraith mode. 8. The Board of Directors are the decision makers. 9. The first to arrive will be Fred. 10.The fuels of the body are carbohydrates, fats and proteins.


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Listed here are some of the more common Relational Processes: Attributive be get keep look smell sound last cost need

become turn stay appear taste end up weigh has require

Identifying go grow remain seem feel turn out concern belong to

be add up to call represent form imply realise betoken resemble include comprise

become play mean spell give stand for indicate take up occupy involve provide

equal act as define express constitute symbolise signify span own contain cause

Attributive Old, unused fruit is/becomes/goes/gets/turns/grows mouldly. The hunters kept/stayed/remain very still. The light through the clouds looked/appeared/seemed like liquid gold. That smells/tastes/feels/sounds lovely. Plants have/need/require cell walls.

Identifying X is/equals/represents/stands for/signifies/means the horizontal axis. The main parts comprise/constitute/form the human brain. The nucleus is/acts as the brain of the cell. Virures cause/are involved in most outbreaks of flu. This type of embrochure is called/is known as/is termed Einsetzen. Before you accuse us of contradiction, note that the same word can function as different Processes, depending on its meaning incontext. Edited by Berti Nurul Khajati, for the Limited Community of STKIP Panca Sakti BEKASI

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So for example: She Senser

smelled Mental:Percept

the lovely flowers Phenomenon

The baking bread Carrier

smelled delicious Attributive:circ Attribute

She Senser

felt badly Mental:Affect Circ:Manner

Feel Mental:Perception

this lovely, soft towel! Phenomenon

He Carrier

felt crook Attribute:intens Attribute

The new uniforms Carrier

felt scratchy and hot Attribute:intens Attribute

about his defeat Circ:Matter

Existential Processes Existential Processes are processes of existence. There

‘s Existential

a unicorn Existent

in the garden Circumstance:Place

‘There’ has no representational function; it is required because of the need for a Subject in English. Existential Processes are expressed by verbs or existing: ‘be’, ‘exist’, ‘arise’ and the Existent can be a Phenomenon of any kind. There

ensued Existential

a protracted legal battle Existent


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If in an Existential clause containing a Circumstantial element the Circumstantial element is Thematic, the word ‘there’ may be ommited: On the matinee jacket Circumstance:place

was Existential

a blood-stain Existent

There

a blood-stain Existent

on the matinee jacket Circumstance:place

was Existential

Existential ‘there’ is not to be confused with Circumstantial ‘there’: There Attrib:Circ.

‘s your book Attributive Carrier

There ‘s Existential

even a book Existent

(right where you left it)

about great Australian dunnies Circumstance:matter

‘There’ in ‘There’s your book’ tells where the book is. ‘There’ in ‘There’s even a book about great Australian dunnies’ is telling you that such a book exists.

Meteorological Processes It It It

‘s hot ‘s windy ‘s five o’clock Meteorological

The ‘It’ has no representational function, but does-provide a Subject. These are analysed as Process: Meteorological.

The text overleaf is analysed for you. As in main scientific and technical texts, many of the Processes are Relational. Hepatitis B Carrier

is a viral disease which affects the liver. Attrib:intens Attributive


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It Token There


is Id:intens

one of the most prevalent STDs Value

worldwide. Circ:place

are over 300 million carriers. Extential Existent

Because the virus Token

causes Id:circ.

most people Senser

don’t know Mental:cognition

(that)

have the disease. Attrib:possessive Attribute

they Carrier

no symtomps Value

In its acute form, Circ:place

Hepatitis B causes Token Id:circ.

These Tiken

weakness, fatigue, fever and vomiting. Value

include Id:intens

Although

this form Carrier

many severe symptoms. Value

is not usually fatal Attrib:intens Attribute

the victim frequently requires hospitalisation. Carrier Attrib:possessive Attribute (Adapted from an information brochure sponsored by SmithKline Beecham Biologicals)


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Exercise 3.3

Analyse the following text for TRANSITIVITY. Most, but not all of the Processes are Relational or Existentional. Whale

are

sea-living mammals.

Some species of whales

are

very large

indeed

and the blue whale << >> is the largest animal to have lived on earth. << which

can exceed

30 m in length >>

The whale

looks

rather like a fish.

but there

are

its tail

important differences

consists of

a pair of broad, flat, horizontal paddles

(the tail of a fish

is

and

has

a single nostril

is

smooth and shiny

it

The skin and beneath it This

is

in its external structure;

lies

vertical) on top of its large, broad head.

a layer of fat (the blubber).

up to 30cm in thickness


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and serves to conserve

heat and body fluids.

(Adapted from Adkins and McKean 1983:26)

EXTRA PARTICIPANTS AND CAUSATION In many Process types there is the possibility of the Process being initiated externally. For instance we often find Material clauses like: The devil made me do it. Here there is a third Participant called the Initiator and the Participant roles in the clause would be analysed as follows: The devil

made

Initiator

me Actor Material

do

it Goal

A similar situation can be found in Relational Processes:Attributive. Here the additional Participant is called the Attributor. So we would analyse the following clause as: She drives me Attributor Attributive Carrier

crazy Attribute

In Identifying clauses, the additional Participant is called the Assigner (the one who assigns the identity). They Assigner

call Id:

me Value

Bruce Token


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In Mental Process tha additional Participant is called the Inducer. For example: She

made

Inducer

me Senser Mental

rethink

my attitudes Phenomenon

In each of the examples in this series, the Process is coded as having an external cause; i.e. another Participant is necessary to bring the Process into being. Summary of Processes and Incumbent Participants: Process type

---------------------------Participant-------------------------er ed causer other

Material Behavioural Mental Verbal Identifying Attributive Existential

Actor Behaver Senser Sayer Token Carrier Existent

Goal Range Phenomenon Verbiage Value Attribute

Initiator

Beneficiary, Range

Inducer Target Assigner Attributor


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CHAPTER 4

CLAUSES AND CLAUSE COMPLEXES Edited by Berti Nurul Khajati, for the Limited Community of STKIP Panca Sakti BEKASI

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INTRODUCTION

Systemic functional grammar talks about clauses and clause complexes rather than sentences. Why the terms ‘clause’ and ‘clause complex’ when most people already know the word ‘sentence’? The sentence is a unit of written language; it does not apply to spoken language. People do not speak in sentences. It you’ve ever tried to transcribe audiotaped or videotaped language material, you will have come up against this fact very quickly. People do, however, speak in message, which are realised grammatically in clauses and clause complexes. Hence, the latter terms are equally applicable to spoken and written language, and therefore are preffered. Rank scale: Traditional vs Systemic Functional Traditional (written) sentence phrase word

Systemic Functional (written and spoken) clause group word

A clause can be defined as the largest grammatical unit, and a clause complex is two more clauses logically connected. These points are illustrated in the following example: John invited the Wilsons to the party but they didn’t come which made John rather indignant as he had thought he was doing them a favour. The text comprises one sentence (everything between the initial upper case letter and the full-stop), but five clauses: John invited the Wilsons to the party but they didn’t come which make John rather indignant as he had thought he was doing them a favour. These five clauses together comprise a clause complex. Edited by Berti Nurul Khajati, for the Limited Community of STKIP Panca Sakti BEKASI

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RECOGNISING CLAUSE BOUNDARIES Because MOOD, TRANSITIVITY and THEME – RHEME are analysed at clause level, it is essential to know where clauses begin and end. The following outline attempts to define ‘clauseness’ and to classify types of clauses.

Minor vs Major Clauses A minor clause has no Predicator; major clause do. The principal types of minor clause are as follows: Address (vocative) Greeting Exclamations

Rhonda, sweety cakes. Hi! Good day! Oh burger! Streuth!

None of the above has a Predicator, and so each one is a minor clause. In the example about John and the Wilsons, on the other hand, each segment has a Predicator (in bold) and so each is a major clause. John invited the Wilsons to the party but they didn’t come which make John rather indignant as he had thought he was doing them a favour.

Major Clauses: Independent vs Dependent While each clause in the above text is a major clause, some of them are independent and some of them are dependent. Independent clause ‘can stand alone’. Dependent clauses ‘can’t stand alone’ in that particular environment. So in the following, ‘although Tony is


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intellegent’ is a dependent clause; it cannot stand alone. ‘he failed’, however, is independent; it can stand alone. Although Tony is intelligent, he failed. However, if we had: Tony is intelligent. However, he failed. both would be independent clauses. Independent clauses realise speech functions – that is, make statements, ask questions, command and exclaim – whereas dependent clauses pick up Mode of the primary clause. So, in the following example, the dependent clause ‘who is highly intelligent’ has no Mood of this own; it picks up the interrogative mood of ‘Why did Tony, <>, fail?’ The whole clause complex is Interrogative. It is not the case that ‘Why did Tony fail’ (the independent clause) is interrogative and ‘who is highly intelligent’ (the dependent clause) declarative.

Exercise 4.1 Identify the independent and dependent clauses below. John invited the Wilsons to the party but they didn’t come which make John rather indignant as he had thought he was doing them a favour.


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Independent Clauses: Non-Elliptical vs Elliptical Elliptical clauses have bits ‘ellipsed’, that is, left out. But these bits are recoverable from the accompanying text. Non-Elliptical

Elliptical

Who is the best man? Are they having a reception? Joanne’s mother began to cry

Michael Jones (is the best man) Yes (they are having a reception) and (she) was handed a hanky

In the elliptical examples above, we know that Michael Jones is the best man, not the captain of the local cricket team, because ‘is the best man’ is recoverable from the accompanying text.

Major: Dependent Clauses A major dependent clause must EITHER be initiated by a  Subordinating relator: e.g. since, if, although, because e.g. as he had thought  A relator Wh-word: e.g. who, which, when e.g. which made John rather indignant  Relative word that e.g. (that) he was doing them a favour OR the verbal group functioning as the Predicator of the dependent clause must be in one of the following forms: perceptive (infinitive) to imperfective (participial) ing

to + verb +

verb ing


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Independent

Dependent

You must flick this switch It’s my invention She stood there He avoided detection

to get the other connection to keep sandwiches in cooking meals from dawn to dusk hiding himself in the thicket

Major: Dependent Clauses: Embedded vs Non-Embedded Embedding is a mechanism whereby an element (in ourc case, a clause) comes to function within the structure of a group, which itself is a constituent of a clause. So we get: Non-embedded: Embedded:

It’s my own invention – to keep sandwiches in I needed something (to keep sandwiches in)

In the first example – to keep sandwiches in is not embedded. Instead, it is a dependent clause, one which adds a kind of afterthought. In the second, ((to keep sandwiches in)) is embedded, and therefore, does not function as a dependent clause in its own right, but rather acts more like a word qualifying or modifying the meaning of ‘something’. Non-embedded: Embedded:

The prisoner, who hid in the thicket, escaped The prisoner who hid in the thicket escaped, but his accomplice was recaptured.

Here, the first who hid in the thicket is not embedded; it is a dependent clause which adds more information about the event under discussion. There are two pieces of information in this clause complex: ‘The prisoner escaped’ and ‘said prisoner hid in the thicket’. In the second clause complex who hid in the thicket is embedded. This embedded bit serves to define which prisoner it was who hid in the thicket to distinguish this prisoner from some other. In this example there are again two pieces of information, but they are as follows: ‘The prisoner who hid in the thicket escaped,’ and ‘his accomplice was raptured.’ Edited by Berti Nurul Khajati, for the Limited Community of STKIP Panca Sakti BEKASI

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When analysed, for example, for TRANSITIVITY, the difference between embedded and non-embedded clauses looks like this: The prisoner, who hid in the thicket, escaped The prisoner Actor

escaped Material

who Actor

hid Material

in the thicket Circ:place

The prisoner who hid in the thicket escaped, but his accomplice was recaptured. The prisoner ((who hid in the thicket)) Actor but

his accomplice Goal

escaped Material

was recaptured Material

The characteristic functions of an embedded elements are as:  Qualifier in a nominal group e.g. The prisoner ((who hid in the thicket))... I need something ((to keep sandwiches in))  Head of a nominal group (nominalisation) e.g. That you are sorry isn’t enough To know Garfield is to love him Knowing Garfield is loving him  Qualifier in an adverbial group e.g. Bitting off more ((than you can chew)) is Carrier

silly

Attrib:intens Attribute


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CLAUSE COMPLEXES

A clause considered from the viewpoint of TRANSITIFITY, MOOD and THEME – RHEME is a multivariate structure: that is, one made up of units of different rank. A clause complex, on the other hand, is a univariate structure (one made upof units of the same rank). A clause complex is comprised of two or more clause logically connected, or put another way, a clause complex is a sequence of processes which are logically connected. Clauses can be combined through one of two logico-semantic relations: Expansion or Projection. We will consider Expansion first.

Expansion Expansion links Processes by providing additional information. It involves three types of relationship: Elaboration, Extension and Enhancement. Elaboration This involves four relationships: specifying in greater detail, restatement, exemplification, and comment. The types of logical relationship covered under Elaboration are the ‘i.e.’, ‘e.g.’ and ‘namely’ type. Elaboration is shown through the sign =. For example: This stew is awful

= it’s too salty

This stew is awful

= it’s completely off

I’ve played in several orchestras = I’ve played in the Darwin Shympony and the Brisbane Sinfonia Barry Tuckwell may be the world’s best living horn player = he’s very, very talented In each case above, the second clause is a sort of paraphrase or afterthought of the first. You can think of Elaboration as the ‘that is to say’ relationship.


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Extension

This extends the meaning of one clause by adding something new. It involves ‘and’, ‘but’, and ‘or’ type relationships and is marked by a + sign. For example: I play a French horn + and my sister plays oboe I love French horn + but I’m less rapt with saxophones I could practise this evening + or I could lazily watch TV In each of these cases, the second clause adds a new, but more related meaning to the first. You could think of Extension as the ‘moreover’ or ‘furthermore’ relationship.

Enhancement This involves circumstantial relationships where the circumstantial information is coded as new clause rather than within a clause. This can be temporal, conditional, causal, concessive, spatial or manner. It is marked through an x sign. For example: I went to rehearsal x after I lectured all day

(temporal)

You don’t have time to practise x if you teach both day and night

(causative)

We didn’t have rehearsal on Monday x because it was a public holiday

(causal)

We had rehearsal on Monday x although it was a public holiday

(concessive)


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We reheased at Kedron Park High School x where we always rehearse (spatial) I’m developing a more pleasing sound x by changing my embouchure

(manner)

Projection Projection links clauses by having one process projected through another either by quotingor reporting. Both meanings (ideas) and wordings (locutions) can be projected. A projected wording is marked with “ and a projected idea is marked with ‘. We can also project propositions (information) or proposal (goods and services). Projection occurs through Mental and Verbal Processes. For example: Verbal: The conductor said “ The next concert is in July The conductor said “ That the next concert is in July Mental: I thought ‘ the next concert is in July I thought ‘ that the next concert was to be in July I don’t want ‘ to play in a brass band The grammatical criterion for distinguishing between types of Mental Processes is whether they can project or not, and if they can project, what they can project. Mental Processes of perception (see, hear, etc.) do not project. Mental Processes of cognition (think, remember, consider) can


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project propositions by both quoting and reporting. Mental Processes of reaction (want, desire) can project proposals.

Taxis Expansion and projecton combine with systems of interdependence, or taxis, to make up the systems for joining clauses in English. Taxis refers to the dependency status of the clauses in a clause complex. The term hypotaxis is used to refer to relationships in which one clause is dependent on another. In traditional grammar this is called subordination. The term parataxis is used when one clause follows on from another. In traditional grammar this is called coordination. In hypotaxis we refer to clauses as being either dominant or dependent. Status is marked thriugh Greek letters. Alpha marks the dominant clause. Clauses are marked alpha, beta, gamma, and so on.it is important to note that the alpha, or dominant clause, does not necessarily come first in the clause complex. In parataxis we refer to clauses as being initiating or continuing. Clauses are marked by number: 1, 2, 3, and so on. We can summarise the choices involved in the system network as shown on the following page:


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Parataxis

(numbers)

Hypotaxis

(Greek letters) Elaboration Extension Enhancement

(=) (+) (x)

Locution

(“)

Idea

(‘)

Taxis

Expansion Logicosemantic Relation Projection

From this system network, we can draw up the following paradigm: Projection Paratactic Locution

1 “2

I said I can’t do this assignment

Idea

1 ‘2

I thought I can’t do this assignment

Locution

α “ß

I said that I couldn’t do this assignment

Idea:proposition

α ‘ ß

I thought that I couldn’t do this assignment

α ‘ ß

I decided to do the assignment

α ‘ ß

I don’t want to do the assignment

Hypotactic

Idea:proposal


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In relationship of expansion both the taxis and the logico-semantic relationship can be identified through the marker which joins the clauses, for example:

Paratactic

Hypotactic

Elaborating

Extending

Enhancing

that is to say or (rather) in other words for example for instance in fact, like which

and, but not only but also except or, yet

so, then for, thus or else still otherwise

whereas while instead besides rather than

as, while when, where because, if even though despite

Expansion Paratactic Elaboration

1 =2

I tidied up my messy desk it needed it

Extension

1 +2

I tidied up my messy desk and finished revising a paper

Enhancement

1 x2

I tidied up my messy desk so I have somewhere to write again

Elaboration

α =ß

I tidied up my messy desk which took the better partof the morning

Extension

α +ß

I tidied up my messy desk whereas Des prepared lecture notes

Hypotactic

or


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Enhancement

+ß α

Whereas Des prepared lecture notes I tidied up my messy desk

α xß

I tidied up my messy desk because I couldn’t find the meeting agenda

xß α

Because I couldn’t find the meeting agenda I tidied up my messy desk

or

Clause complexes, of course, are not limited to two clauses. In natural spoken discourse clause complexes can extend to a dozen or so clauses and the relationship among the clauses can be very complex mixtures of all the above possibilities. A handy rule of thumb for deciding whether clauses are joined by parataxis or hypotaxis is this: try too change the order of the clauses. If the conjunction moves with the clause, it is most likely hypotaxis. For example: Parataxis 1 I play the French horn + 2 and my sister plays the oboe 1 My sister plays the oboe + 2 and I play the French horn Hypotaxis α We had orchestra rehearsal x ß even though it was a public holiday x ß Even though it was a public holiday α we had orchestra rehearsal


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Analysis of Clause Complexes When analysing clause complexes:

 List each clause vertically down the page, lettering each clause complex (A, B, C, etc.) and numbering each clause in the clause complex (i, ii, iii, iv, etc.)  Display analysis on left-hand side of text  Begin a new layer (indent) whenever there is a change in taxis or a change in logico-semantic relation. So, for example, using the guidelines, step by step, the clause complexes below are analysed as follows: (A)(i) (ii)

α =ß

Each level of government has its set duties which it must carry out

(B)(i) 1α (ii) xß (iii) x 2

She never enjoys parties if her boyfriend’s not there so we didn’t invite her

(C)(i) 1 (ii) “ 2 α (iii) x ß

The babysitter said “Don’t make a noise When you come in tonight

(D)(i) 1 (ii) =2 (iii)=3 1 (iv) +2 (v) +3 α (vi) x ß 1 (vii) +2

there’s so many roads in this forest they’re just climbing everywhere it’s like a honeycomb and we didn’t crash but we got bogged in sand twice because all the early cars went through and they hooned around the corner

(E)(i) 1 (ii) + 2 α (iii) = ß α (iv) xßα (v) ‘ß

John invited the Wilsons to the party but they didn’t come which made John rather indignant as he had thought he was doing them a favour


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Exercise 4.2

Try analysing the following clause complexes. If it’s in your family, you must consult a doctor or you will endanger future generations. They asked if they could state their case, which was quite a straightforward one but the director just said, ‘You’ll have to ask John; he’s the boss.’ Jogging is bad for you; it jars yous spine and damages your feet when you run on a hard surface which can be a problem for life.

Exercise 4.3 Try analysing the clause complexes in the penguin text which you have already analysed for MOOD.


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CHAPTER 5

THEME AND RHEME Edited by Berti Nurul Khajati, for the Limited Community of STKIP Panca Sakti BEKASI

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THE CLAUSE AS MESSAGE

In this chapter we look at how we structure information in English, what, we put where and why. To do this we will consider each clause as a message, which is in turn part of a larger message, the text. Each clause, if you like, in a stream of messages is related either to the preceding or following discourse or to the context. A message comes from somewhere and leads to somewhere.

Theme and Rheme In English, where we put information in a clause tells us about where the clause is coming from and where it is going to. In an English clause there are two points of prominence, the beginning and the end. The beginning of a clause is where weput information which links the clause to what has come before. For example, we find conjunctions at the beginning of clauses because they provide a logical link with what has gone before. We also find information about the topic of the clause, what the clause is about. This information is contained in the first nominal group in the clause. There are exceptions to this, such as when a prepositional phrase precedes the first nominal group. This will be discussed later. The topical information is also usually related to something which has been introduced earlier in a text or is retreivable from the text. Look at the following example from the Bruce Springsteen song ‘TheRiver’. I come from down in the valley Here we find ‘I’ at the beginning, tell us that the clause is about ‘me’ (the singer). This is the Theme of the clause and in this case it relates the text to its context. We retrieve the identity of ‘I’ from outside the text, i.e. the person singing the song (adopting the role of the main participant in the song). ‘I’ is the Theme of the clause. The new information in the clause ‘down in the valley’ is, in this case, a prepositional phrase (realising a Circumstance) and comes at the and. Edited by Berti Nurul Khajati, for the Limited Community of STKIP Panca Sakti BEKASI

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If we move on to the next line: where Mister, when you’re young

we find the new information from the previous line picked up as Theme (‘where’). Information which was already available in the text is further developed. In English the Theme can be identified as that or those element(s) which come(s) first in the clause.this represents the point of departure of this message from the previous one. The rest of the clause is called the Rheme. New information is tipically contained in the Rheme. Theme, is broadly speaking, what the clause is going to be about.or in terms of Theme and Rheme, Theme represents ‘This is what I’mtalking about’ and the Rheme is ‘This is what I’m saying about it’. In terms of looking at a clause as a message, the Theme looks backwards, relating the current message to what has gone before. The Rheme points both backwards and forwards by picking up on information which is already available and adding to it by presenting information which was not there before. The interaction of Theme and Rheme governs how the information in a text develops. This will be illustrated later in the discussion of texts. Information prominence can be summarised in the following diagram: Theme

thematic prominence

Rheme

information prominence

As thematic prominence decreases, informative prominence, or Newness, increases.


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Types of Theme

The rest of the discussion in this chapter is focused on Theme. The Theme can be divided into a number of categories: Ideational, Textual and Interpersonal. A clause can have any, all or none of these categories present. Ideational The Ideational, or Topical Theme is usually but not always the first nominal group in the clause. Topical Themes may also be nominal group complexes, adverbial groups, prepositional phrases or embedded clauses. In the unmarked case the Topical Theme is also the Subject. A Topical Theme which is not the Subject is called a Marked Topical Theme. The term marked is used because it stands out. It attracts attention because it is not what we normally expect to find. Unmarked Topical Themes Nominal group as Theme Jack Theme

went up the hill Rheme

Nominal group complex as Theme Jack and Jill Theme

went up the hill Rheme

Embedded clause ((What Jack and Jill did)) Theme

was go up the hill Rheme


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Marked Topical Themes Adverbial as Theme Down Theme

Jack fell Rheme

Prepositional phrase as Theme Up the hill Theme

Jack and Jill went Rheme

Complement as Theme His crown Theme

he broke Rheme

The Themeof a clause extends to and includes the Topical Theme. Therefore, elements which precede the Topical Theme are also thematic but elements which come after the Topical Theme are not.

Textual Themes Textual Themes relate the clause to its context. They can be Continuatives and/or Conjunctive Adjuncts and Conjunctions. The line between Conjunctions and Conjunctive Adjuncts is often a fine one. One difference is that Conjunctive Adjuncts are more free tomove in a clause whereas Conjunctions are pretty well restricted to being at the beginning. Thus, in the example below, the Conjunction ‘but’ remains at the beginning of the second clause in each pair. The Conjunctive Adjunct ‘nevertheless’ can occur in various positions in the clause: The procedure was simple but, nevertheless was very effective. Edited by Berti Nurul Khajati, for the Limited Community of STKIP Panca Sakti BEKASI

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The procedure was simple, but was, nevertheless, very effective. The procedure was simple but was very effective nevertheless.

Conjuntions tend to provide Textual Themes within a clause complex and are called Structural Themes. Conjunctive Adjuncts, on the other hand, tend to (but don’t always) join text outside of clause complexes. They tend to have more of a text-organising function. Continuatives are a small set of items which, if they are there, are always at the beginning of the clause and signal that a new move is beginning. For example: well, right, OK, now, anyway, of course Right, Cont.

what we need to do today Topical Theme

is revise for our test. Rheme

These relate to the context of speaking in that they signal to the listeners that someone is about to start, resume or continue speaking. Conjunctives relate the clause to the preceeding text by providing a logical link between the messages. Well,

on the other hand,

Cont.

Conjunctive Theme

we

could wait

Topical Rheme

Likewise Conjunctions almost always occur at the beginning of a clause and carry the logico-semantic relations between clauses. Well,

on the other hand,

Cont.

Conjuntive Theme

if Structural

we

wait until Tuesday...

Topical Rheme


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Interpersonal Themes

Interpersonal elements occuring before the Topical Theme are also thematic. They may be Modal Adjuncts, Vocatives, Finite or Wh-elements. Modal Adjunct: Perhaps

we

Modal Interper. Topical Theme

can wait until next week

Rheme

Vocatives: Vocatives (a name or nickname used to address someone) are only thematic if they occur before the Topical Theme, a Finite verb or a Modal Adjunct. Dearly beloved we Vocative Topical Theme

are gathered here today

Mary, Vocative Theme

decided to wait until next week

we Topical

Rheme

Rheme

In the clause below the person’s name is not used as a Vocative; therefore it is Topical and not Interpersonal. Mary Topical Theme Anyway Cont. Text.

decided to wait untilnext week Rheme Mary Vocat. Int. Theme

we Topical Topical

decided to wait until next week?

Rheme


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Mary, Voc.


didn’t Finite

Interper. Theme But, Conj. Text

we Topical Topical

Mary, surely Voc. Modal Interpersonal Theme

decide to wait until next week?

Rheme we Top. Top.

can wait until next week

Rheme

The maximum possible Theme in a clause would be something like: Well, but aternatively Mary surely wouldn’t the best thing be to wait? Cont. Str. Conj. Voc. Modal Finite Topical Textual Interpersonal Topical Theme Rheme

Clause as Theme in a Clause Complex In a hypotactic clause complex, if the dependent clause comes first then the dependent clause is treated as the Theme for the whole clause complex. Each clause also has its own Theme – Rheme structure. If the dependent clause comes first Theme then it is the Theme for the whole Clause Complex. Rheme If Str

the dependent clause comes first Topical Theme Rheme Rheme


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then it is the Theme for the whole Clause Complex. Str Topical Theme Rheme Rheme

Thematic Equatives These occur in certain Identifying clauses where the Theme and Rheme are equated with each other. They almost always involve nominalisation. What we wanted to do Theme

was wait until next week Rheme

Predicated Themes These are taken from it + be + ... It was the lectures Theme Rheme Theme

((who made the decision)) Theme Rheme Rheme

It Theme

((that they Str. Top. Theme Rheme

Theme

was suggested Rheme

wait)) Rheme


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THEME AND MOOD

So far most of the examples discussed have been clauses wich have Declarative Mood. We also need to consider Theme in Interrogatives, Imperatives and Exclamatives.

Theme in Interrogatives Polar: Here the Finite precedes the Subject and is thus thematic if the Subject is also Topical Theme. Did we decided to wait? Fin. Subj Theme Rheme In an example like: On Saturday Topical Theme

will you be going? Rheme

‘On Saturday’ is a Marked Topical Theme. The Finite comes after so it is not thematic. In the case of Wh-Interrogatives, the Wh-element alone is thematic. What time is the exam? Theme Rheme Who Theme

are you trying to kind? Rheme


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Theme in Imperatives

There are two ways of treating Theme in Imperative clauses: Either as Rheme only Write

your name in the upper right hand corner Rheme

Or treat the Process as Theme Write Theme

your name in the upper right hand corner Rheme

We can see the rationale for treating the Process as Theme if we look at a text that is orientated towards ‘doing’, such as a set of instructions: Plug the flex into a 240 Volt AC outlet. Switch the power on. Push the button on the control panel... Here the focus is on the ‘doing’, not on who is doing it, so we could argue that the Process is thematic. This is the preffered option in this book.

Theme in Exclamatives This consists of Wh-element plus either a nominal group or an adverbial group. What a beautiful day Theme

it is Rheme

How divinely Theme

he dances Rheme


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Theme Components Metafunction

Components of Theme

Textual

Continuative (well, OK, etc) Structural (conjunction or Wh-relative*) Conjunctive (adjunct)

Interpersonal

Modal (adjunct) Finite Wh-interrogative*

Ideational

Topical (Subject, Complement or Circumstantial Adjunct)

*Note:

Wh-relatives and interrogatives are also Topical elements.


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THEME AND TEXT

We have already suggested that dependent (hypotactic) clauses which precede the independent clause they modify are considered thematic in the clause complex. Another extension of the principle of Theme is to the topic sentence of a paragraph. We could look at the topic sentence as the Theme of the paragraph. Or we ciuld extend it further by regarding the introductory paragraph of an expository essay, as the Theme for the rest of an essay. What we find here is the same pattern repeated on different scales but the proportional relationship hold. theme : clause = topic sentence : paragraph = introduction : essay.

Theme and New Information Another important aspect of how texts develop is through the interaction of Theme and New Information. Once information has been presented in a text it is then available to be developed. Information can either be picked up as Theme or it can be accumulated as New. This is illustrated with a short text. The example is taken from a song ‘Finishing Touches’ by Warren Zevon. I Th

‘m getting tired of

you New

You ‘re getting tired of Th

me New

It Th

‘s

the final actof our little tragedy. New

In this text the Participants are introduced in the first line, the singer as Theme and the addressee as New. In the second line the positions are reversed, the addressee as Theme and the singer as New. The final line summarises all information in the previous two lines as ‘it’ presents this as Edited by Berti Nurul Khajati, for the Limited Community of STKIP Panca Sakti BEKASI

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Theme, then, using a Relational Identifying Process, adds new information which also summarises the previous text, using ‘our’ as a Possessive Deictic to include the Participants and ‘final act’ and ‘little tragedy’ in a nominalised form to reformulate all the previous information as New. This is just a small example, but it illustrates interaction between Theme and New information in the development of a text.

THEME AND TEXT DEVELOPMENT The following two texts are anwers to the question ‘Are governments necessary in Australia?’. The texts have been written for this book but are based on genuine answers to the same question set for a year nine class in an inner suburban school in Sydney. The texts are analysed for the Theme below with a discussion of the differences in Theme patterns following. If only component of the Theme is Topical then only ‘Theme’ is written. TEXT 1 I Theme

think Rheme

governments Theme

are necessary Rheme

because Str. Textual Theme there Theme

if Str.

there

weren’t any

Topical Rheme wouldn’t any law Rheme


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and Str. Textual Theme


people

would be killing each other.

Topical Rheme

They Theme

help keep the system in order for certain things. Rheme

If Str. Text Theme

there

there Theme It Theme

Topical Rheme wouldn’t be anyone to fix up problems in the country. Rheme ‘s the same with the state governments. Rheme

If the state govenments Str. Text Topical Theme there Theme

wasn’t any federal government

didn’t exist

Rheme

wouldn’t be anyone to look after the schools, Rheme

vandalism and fighting Theme

would occur every day. Rheme

The local government Theme

is important Rheme

to look after rubbish Rheme


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because otherwise Str. Str. Textual Theme

everyone

would have diseases.

Topical Rheme

TEXT 2 In Australia Marked Topical Theme

there are three levels of government, Rheme

the federal government, state governments and local governments. Rheme All of these levels of government Theme This Theme First, Conj. Textual Theme

are necessary. Rheme

is so far a number of reasons. Rheme the federal govenrment

is necessary for the big things.

Topical Rheme

They Theme

keep the economy in order Rheme

and Str. Text Theme

look after things like defence.

Similarly Con. Textual Theme

the state governments

Rheme look after the middle-sized things.

Topical Rheme


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For example Conj. Textual Theme

they

look after law and order,

Topical Rheme

preventing things like vandalism in schools. Rheme Finally, Conj. Textual Theme They Theme

local governments

look after the small things.

Topical Rheme look after things like collecting rubbish, Rheme

otherwise Str Textual Theme

everyone

Thus Conj Text Theme

for the reasons above

would have diseases.

Topical Rheme we can conclude

Marked Topical Rheme

that the three levels of govenrment are necessary. Str Text Topical Theme Rheme


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Discussion

Although the two texts present the same case, that the three levels of govenment in Australia are necessary, and use much the same arguments, the texts are very different in how they develop their arguments. The explanationof these differences can be found mainly in how the infornmation is structured, or in how the recources of Theme and Rheme are desployed. In particular the use of Textual Themes is important in structuring the texts. In the first text most Textual Themes are structural (Conjunctions). These operate at sentence or clause complex level. There are no Textual Themes used to join larger units of text. This leaves implicit relations between different parts of the text. In the second text Textual Themes are mainly Conjunctive Adjuncts. These are used to develop the rhetorical structure of the text. Giong back to the clause ‘This is so far a number of reasons,’ we find the Topical Theme ‘this’ summarising the thesis presented in the preceeding text and linking it to the new information in the clause ‘a number of reasons’. This Theme

is so for a number of reasons. New

The Conjunctive Textual Themes at the beginning of each sub-section of text the link up to this piece of New Information. They introduce new reasons. They operate at a text-organising level rather than at a sentence-organising level. Even within sub-sections of the text we find a similar pattern of organisation. The Conjunctive ‘for example’ provides a link between one sentence and another. We also find differences in the kind of information found Topical Themes. In the first text we find a number of Existential clauses with ‘there’ as Theme. These clauses have no content or topical information in the Topical Theme. Most of the content information is found in the Rheme as new information. Thus the argument tends to develop as a sequence of news without much link between Theme and New.


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In contrast the second text puts more content information in the Topical Themes and there is more continuity in choice of Topical Themes. For example: First Conj. Theme

the federal government is necessary for the big things. Topical Rheme (New)

They Topical

keep Rheme

the economy in order (New)

and Str. Theme

look after

things like defence.

Rheme

(New)

Here we find a Conjunctive in the first sentence linking the following text to ‘reasons’. The federal government is Topical Theme in the second clause with ‘the big things’ as New Information. In the second clause the Topical Theme ‘they’ refers to the federal government in the previous clause and, in the New Information ‘the economy’ is an example of a ‘big thing’ while ‘in order’ can be related to ‘is necessary’. In the final clause the Structural Theme links the clause to the one above, assumes the same Topical Theme by leaving it out and adds ‘defence’ as an example of another ‘big thing’. In addition the second text employs Marked Topical Themes. For example: In Australia Marked Topical

there are three levels of government, Rheme

in the first sentence of the text and Thus Str.

for the reasons above Marked Topical

we can conclude Rheme

at the beginning of the final subsection. In the first example ‘in Australia’ locates the content of the text for the reader. It has an orienting function. In Edited by Berti Nurul Khajati, for the Limited Community of STKIP Panca Sakti BEKASI

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the second example, the Marked Topical Theme links the final subsection to the rest of the text (‘above’), especially to ‘reasons’. The contrast between the two links is not in what the writers were trying to say butib how they said it. The writerof the first text utilises Theme patterns typical of face-to-face interaction, of speaking. The writer of the second text used patterns more typical of writing, giving the text a more explicit rhetorical structure.

Exercise 5.1 Consider the patterns of Theme in the following texts. See what patterns you can find and examine how they contribute to the texts’ development. Consider also the relationship between Theme and New information. TEXT 1 The philosophes questioned the institutions that existed in French Society. They were radical thinkers who spoke openly about their options and beliefs in order to gain the support of others. They sowed the seeds of doubt in the people’s minds. These people had been simple, mainly illiterate and unaware of ((how to obtain a better life or what a better life ((than they had)) was.)) The Philosophes provided the information and gave the people the ideas and initiative which led to open revolution.

TEXT 2 The Philosophes had a very significant role in the outbreak of revolution.


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The fuel for the fire was there so to speak in the form of the unfair social system, the despotic monarchy. However, until the people knew of better conditions they had no grounds ((to base their complaints on)). It took people like the philosophes to provide the spark by revealing theories, evidence of other revolutions, e.g. American. As a result of the philosophes’ participation the people of France saw that what had occuredelsewhere could occur in France also. Thus, the philosophes motivated the people to revolution.


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REVIEW

EXERCISE


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Now that you have considered MOOD, TRANSITIVITY, clause complexes and THEME – RHEME, try analysing the following text for all four of these. The first clause is done for you to demonstrate the suggested order and layout of analysis. A (i) When

a polar bear cub Subject

is

born

Fin.

Pred.

Mood

Residue

Behaver Str.

Behavioural

Topical Theme

A (ii) it

is

MOOD

Rheme

TRANSITIVITY THEME – RHEME

smaller than a pet cat. MOOD TRANSITIVITY THEME – RHEME

B

It

cannot

see or hear. MOOD TRANSITIVITY THEME – RHEME

C (i) Very short, white hairs

cover

its body


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C (ii) but


it

has

no body fat.

Since it is important to recognise clauses, and their constituent parts, the rest of this text has been written in normal sentences. First, distinguish and write down the individual clauses, then proceed with the analysis of MOOD, TRANSITIVITY, Logical relations and THEME – RHEME as above. When the cub is 26 days old, its ears open and it can hear. When the cub is 33 days old, its eyes open. After two months polar bear cubs begin to move within the den. At three months they leave the winter den. (Baker 1990)


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CHAPTER 6

NOMINAL GROUPS Edited by Berti Nurul Khajati, for the Limited Community of STKIP Panca Sakti BEKASI

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NOMINAL GROUP STRUCTURE

We have now looked at English grammar at clause rank and at clause complexes. We will turn now to look at the next rank down, group rank and will focus on the structure of the nominal group. A group, as the name implies is a group of words and, like everything else in grammar, relationships between and among words in the group are structured. in English there are a number of types of groups, nominal groups, verbal groups, adverbial groups, conjunction groups and preposition groups. A group is basically an extension of a word. It consists of a headword plus any modification to that word. For example: Nominal Groups the snake, that big snake, those two enormous venomous snakes Verbal Groups took, had taken, would have been going to have taken Adverbial Groups quickly, more quickly, not so much more quickly Conjunction Groups even if, as soon as, almost as soon as Preposition Groups right behind, immediately in front of In this chapter only the nominal group is discussed, mainly because it is the structure of the nominal group which is most interesting in education, particularly in written discourse. We will be looking at the nominal group here mainly in terms ot its experiential and less so in its logical structure. A nominal group is a group of words which has a noun (a word which names a person, place or thing) as its head word and includes all additional information related to that noun. As a means of representing experience, the nominal group has a number of functional components. Edited by Berti Nurul Khajati, for the Limited Community of STKIP Panca Sakti BEKASI

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The first of these is the noun itself, which in terms of its functional role in the structure is called the Thing. The Thing is then subject to further modification and specification. For example, we can specify ‘which thing?’, ‘how many things?’, ‘what qualities does this thing have?’, ‘what type of thing is it?’. We will illustrate this by building up a nominal group a step at a time and adding information at each new step. A nominal group can consist of a Thing only. For example: snake Thing The next element we will add is called the Deictic, which has the function of stating ‘which thing’. It specifies how the Thing in question can be identified in relation to its context. For example, if someone says, ‘the snake’, he or she can be referring either to a particular snake which is in the near context or to all snakes in the generic sense (the snake is a reptile). If someone says, ‘this snake’, he oe she can be referring only to one close at hand. If it is present, the Deictic occurs first in the Nominal Group. There are a number of deictic functions but all involve degrees of specification. The Deictic can be either specific (the) or non-specific (a or an). Specific: Demonstrative:

the, this, that, these, those, which(ever), what(ever)

Possessive:

my, your, our, his, her, its, their, one’s, Martin’s, my sister’s, (etc), whose(ver), which person’s (etc)

For example:

the snake, these snakes, Eric’s snake

We also find non-specific Deictics, which tell us whether all, none or some unspecified sub-set of the Things is being identified. Non-Specific Deictics: each, every, both, all, neither (not either), no (not any), one, either, some, any, a, an, some For example:

every snake, some snakes, a snake, no snakes


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There may be a second Deictic element in the nominal group called the PostDeictic. The Post-Deictic identifies a sub-set of the class of Thing by referring to its fame or familiarity, its status in the text, or its similarity or dissimilarity to some other designated sub-set. Among the words most frequently occuring as Post-Deictic are: Other, same, different, identical, complete, entire, whole, above, aforementioned, certain, customary, expected, famous, given, habitual, necessary, normal, notorious, obvious, odd, ordinary, original, particular, possible, probable, regular, respective, special, typical, usual, various, well-known. Those are the identical two boys Thing

D PD

N

T

Those are the two identical boys Thing g

D

N

Epi

T

‘the same boys as before’

‘boys who are the same as each other’

My brothers are identical twins

(as opposed to fraternal twins)

D

Thing

Class.

T

Following the Deictic there is a Numerative function. Where the Deictic tells us ‘which one’, the Numerative telss us ‘how many’. The Numerative indicates some numerical feature of the sub-set: either quantity or order, either exact or inexact. For example: Quantity: Order:

the two snakes, lots of snakes the second snake, a subsequent snake

Following the Numerative in the structure comes the Epithet. This indicates some quality of the subset, which may be either ‘objective’, such as ‘old’,’big’, ‘small’, or it may be an expression of the speaker’s attitude, such as ‘loathsome’, ‘nasty’. Attitudinal Epithets (e.g. loathsome, nasty),while also being experiental have an Interpersonal dimension. Attitudinal Epithets (subjective Epithets) tend to come before experiental (objective) ones; however, this is a tendency and not a rule. If we look at abuse, then we tend to find that the Attitudinal Epithets come first and build in intensity before we get to the experiental ones. So, for example: Edited by Berti Nurul Khajati, for the Limited Community of STKIP Panca Sakti BEKASI

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You useless, hopeless, worthless, no good, little ...

However, if we go back to the snakes we could find: Those two loathsome, big snakes. or Those two big, loathsome snakes. Attitudinal Epithets also tend to be marked by stress and intonation, and are often intensified by swear words. There is also, theoretically anyway, no restriction on the number of Epithets possible in a nominal group. Next, and closest to the Thing is Classifier. The function of the Classifier is to tell us ‘what type’ or ‘what kind’. For example, we distinguish between types of snakes by their Classifier: venomous or non-venomous snakes. It is often difficult to draw a line between what is a Classifier and what is an Epithet. Some criteria are:  A Classifier comes from a finite set of options. There are any number of qualities which can be assigned to something but a more limited range of types or sub-sets.  A Classifier cannot be intensified. We can have ‘a very big snake’ but we don’t find ‘a very non-venomous snake’. We have now covered the range of possible modification before the Thing (premodification). This is shown in the following nominal group: those Deictic

other two big, loathsome venomous snakes PD Num Epi(exp) Epi(att) Classifier Thing

This leaves us with one functional slot to be filled in the nominal group, modification after the Thing (post-modification). This is called the Qualifier. Qualifiers provide additional defining or circumstantial information about the Thing. A Qualifier is almost always a prepositional phrase or a relative clause, and is an example of embedding. For example: a D

snake Thing

(which rattles) Qualifier

or


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a D

snake Thing


((which has rattles)) Qualifier

N.B.Embedded phrases are marked ( ) and embedded clauses are marked (( )) We can tell that these phrases and clauses are constituents of the nominal group because they cannot be moved, and if we replace the group with a pronoun, we replace the Qualifier as well. For example: The snakes with rattles

it

The Qualifier allows large-scale expansion of the amount of information that can be fitted into a nominal group. Because it is structurally of a rank higher than a word, i.e. a phrase or a clause, it itselt contains nominal groups, which are then available for expansion. For example: A snake (with fangs ((which lie at the back of the jaws)) ) This type of structure is known as recursive structure, i.e. a structure which can repeat itself. This potential to package a large amount of information in one grammatical unit becomes very important when we come to look at written language. A nominal group with all functions filled would be like: those two large loathsome venomous snakes with refracting fangs D N Epi Epi(att) Classifier Thing Qualifier Just as post-modifiers (Qualifiers) involve embedding, so too can premodifiers. The following examples are offered as solutions for how to analyse instances of nominal groups embedded within pre-modifiers (Deictic, Numeratives, etc.), which, of course, are themselves elements within nominal groups. the rattlesnakes’ fangs Deictic Thing


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the front of Pre-Deictic


the rattlesnake’s mouth Deictic Thing

thousands of these Pre-Num Deictic

snakes Thing

the deadliest of these venomous Pre-Epithet Deictic Class.

species Thing

this kind of snake Pre-Class Thing

Exercise 6.1 Identify and analyse the structure of the nominal groups in the following. 1. A

Russian journalist

evidence 2. The

of another Soviet nuclear catastrophe. player

wins one

has uncovered

with the highest total for each round

point.

3. Exotic tall slim busty blonde 4. The

early

gave rise to 5. Among and

reptiles

that lived on Earth

thousands of these were

very raunchy with green eyes

different species.

the monstrous dinosaurs

great creatures that swam or flew.


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NOMINALISATION AND GRAMMATICAL METAPHOR

Halliday uses the term grammatical metaphor to refer the meaning transference in the grammar. This implies that meaning is transferred from somewhere to somewhere else. Halliday uses the term metaphorical to contrast withthe term congruent. Halliday says, ‘In other words, forany given semantic configuration there is (at least) one congruent realisation ion the lexicogrammar’ (1985:321). This concept is essential for undestanding the difference between spoken and written language. If wego back to TRANSITIVITY for a moment, we find a correlation between grammatical roles and the word classes that fill them. These are shown below: Meaning

Congruent realisation

Metaphorical realisation

Participant

noun (workers)

abstract noun (labour)

Process

verb (invest)

noun (investment)

Qualities

adjective (virile)

noun (virility)

Logical relation

conjunction (so)

noun, verb, preposition (the reason being that)

The grammatical metaphor is obvious in the written version of the following notice: Spoken: If our meter reader can’t get at your meter to read it to find out how much you owe, we’ll have to estimate your account.


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Written: Where a reading of a meter cannot be made for the purposes of rendering an account because of the absence of access to the meter, the account may bear an estimated reading instead of the actual reading. Participants

Processes

Conjuntions

Spoken Version: our meter reader your meter, it how much ((you owe)) we your account

can’t get at read find out have to estimate

if (in order) to (in order) to (then)

Written Version: a reading of a meter cannot be made the purpose of may bear rendering an account the absence of access the account an estimated reading the actual reading

because of the

The grammatically metaphorical nature of the written version is largely the result nominalisation, turning Processes and Conjunctions into nouns (things): can’t get at to read to find out owe will have to estimate it

the absence of access a reading, actual reading for the purpose of rendering the account an estimated reading where a reading of a meter ...

This in turn has the effect of completely effacing human agents (people) and obscuring agency (cause – effect). So in the written, bureucratic version above, the agents are left unspecified (who is reading whose meter?) or the subject is shifted onto inanimate objects (the account may bear an estimated reading). Edited by Berti Nurul Khajati, for the Limited Community of STKIP Panca Sakti BEKASI

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It is not only bureucratic texts that do it. Scientific and, surprisingly, historical text as well as social science texts also tend to nominalise very heavily. With increased nominalisation, more and more information tends to become packed into nominal groups within clauses rather than distributed over a number of clauses. Information becomes more condensed, more tightly packed. Grammatical metaphor (nominalisation) also tends to lead to more abstract texts. This is because concrete participant such as people tend to dissapear from the text. They are replaced by abstract participants, derived through nominalisation, as in the written version of the meter reading text above. As a consequence of information being packaged more tightly and abstractly, the text becomes both more difficult to read and to say. The information can be packaged more tightly because the structure of the nominal group allows such packing. Once we nominalise a verb, say, all of the resources for modification in the nominal group become available. In English there are more places for adding experiental informationto nouns than to verbs. The text become more difficult to decode because much of the explicit grammatical information is lost, the meaning becomes more buried. It could be argued that education as it is new in the West involves a progressive movement into grammatical metaphor. Reading material becomes more and more metaphorical the further we progress through the ecucation system. The orientation is more and more away from ‘spoken’, congruent meanings and more and more towards ‘written’ or metaphorical meanings. Halliday argues thet the shift from congruent to metaphorical modes of expression within the individual is developmental, that young, and even not so young children, cannot understand grammatical metaphors. This makes many written texts used in the classrooms very difficult for the young readers for whom they are written. The following mathematics materials from Barry, Booker, Perry and Siemon (1986, 1984) which were written for 11 and 9 year students respectively exemplify this point.


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TEXT 1


Find the height of a prism whose volume is 45cm³ and whose base is a 5cm by 3cm rectangle. The clause structure is very simple: Predicator realised by the verb ‘find’ and Complement realised by a single nominal group. But the nominal group is very complex: ‘of a prism whose volume is 45cm³ and whose base is a 5cm by 3cm rectangle’ all qualifies the Head ‘height’. Within this Qualifier are two embedded clauses which comprise a clause complex:  whose volume is 45cm³  whose base is a 5cm by 3cm rectangle These two embedded clauses sub-qualify ‘prism’. To understand the nature of the mathematical problem before them, readers have to unpack several layers of qualification. Being able to solve the problem requires both mathematical and linguistic sophistication. This is also case in the material for 9 year old students in Text 2. TEXT 2 (A)

Here are 3 square centimetres. N

(B)

Here is a square with each side 3 centimetres. D

(C)

Thing

Thing

Qualifier

How many square centimetres cover the 3 centimetre square? Thing

D

Classifier

Thing

In the wording in Text 2 could be quite confusing for a young learner, especially a non-English-speaking-background learner. Firstly, consider the status of ‘3’, ‘square’ and ‘centimetre’ in each the three clauses. ‘3’ is Numerative in (A), part of Qualifier in (B) and part of Classifier in (C). Secondly, when measuring the area or volume of shapes, the dimensions – the height, length and so on – are important. The most grammatically congruent Edited by Berti Nurul Khajati, for the Limited Community of STKIP Panca Sakti BEKASI

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way to express these attributes of shapes is by means of Attributive clauses like Each side of this square is

3 Num.

centimetres Thing

long. Qual.

However, the Attributives in the textbook example are encoded firstly within a Qualifier in clause B and within a Classifier in clause C. In connection with Text 2, note that ‘centimetres’ is used to refer to ‘objects’ in clause A and as a unit of measure in clause B. Perhaps the relationship between the two uses of ‘centimetres’ would be clarified if the presentation were altered to include explicit Conjunction: Here are 3 square centimetres Each side of this square is 3 centimetres long. So it is (called) a 3 centimetre square. How many square centimetres cover the 3 centimetre square?


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Exercise 6.2

Analyse the underlined nominal goups in the following News Item (Northern Territory News, 11 September 1991). Comment briefly (a paragraph or so) on the packaging of information in this text.

Town ‘Contaminated’

Moscow. – A Russian jounalist has uncovered evidence of another Soviet nuclear catasthrope, which killed 10 sailors and contaminated an entire town. Yelena Vazrshavskya is the first journalist to speak to people who witnessed the explosion of a nuclear submarine at the naval base of Shkotovo-22 near Vladivostock. The accident, which occured 13 months before the Chernobyl disaster, spread radioactive fallout over the base and nearby town, but was covered by officials of the then Soviet Union. Residents were told the explosion in the reactor of a Victorclass submarine during a refit had been a ‘thermal’ and not a nuclear explosion. And those involved in the clean-up operation to remove more than 600 tonnes of contaminated material were sworn to secrecy. A board of investigation was later to describe it as the worst accident in the history of the Soviet Navy. (Courtesy of the Northern Territory News)


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a Russian journalist

evidence (of another Soviet nuclear catastrophe)

which

an entire town

10 sailors

the first person (to speak to ... Vlad)

radioactive fallout

Yelena Vazrshavskya

the accident

officials of the then Soviet Union

which

Residents

the explosion (in the reactor of the Victor-class submarine during a refit)

a

thermal

and not

a

nuclear explosion

secrecy

it

**********

those

a

(involved in the clean-up ... material)

board

of investigation


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CHAPTER 7

SPOKEN AND WRITTEN LANGUAGE Edited by Berti Nurul Khajati, for the Limited Community of STKIP Panca Sakti BEKASI

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SPOKEN AND WRITTEN LANGUAGE AND MODE This chapter focuses on the differences between spoken and written language. First a couple of comments need to be made. Spoken and written language differ in a number of ways. Written language is not simply speech written down. Speaking and writing are manifestations of the some linguistic system but in general they encode meaning in different ways because they have envolved to serve different purposes. When we think of writing, particularly if we are English teachers, we tend to think of artistic function of writing but in the history of writing these function are relative latecomers. Like spoken language inthe individual, early witting tendedto be orientend towards goods and services. It tended to be about laws, codes of behaviour, lists of transactions (who was who and who owned or owed what). The artistic functions of language, such as poetry, song and storytelling, originated from the spoken language and were only later written down. In term of both the evolution of the species and the development of the individual, speech precedes writing. For the species as a whole speech preceded writing by maybe a million years or so. Even if it was invented writing began in only a few places and under certain conditions. For the individual in literate societies the difference is a few years, after which the spoken and written forms of the language develop concurently. The term ‘written language’ does not only refer to language which is written down. Likewise the term ‘spoken language’ does not only refer to language which is said aloud. For example, if someone reads an academic paper aloud the features of the language are more like those of written language than spoken language. Similarly we transcribe language, the written down version has more in common with spoken language than it does in written. What is at issue here is not just the medium through which language is transmitted but, more importantly, the way meanings are encoded. The key register variable here is mode and the key difference between spoken and written


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language is the relationship between language an the context of speaking (or writing) Spoken language is typically more dependent on its context than written language is. In contrast written language tends to be more independent of its immediate context. Neither of the above prepositions is absolute, however, and it is better tolook at spoken and written language as a continuum with the extremes showing marked differences but with points close together being similar. In illustrating the differences the ends will be concentrated on. This continuum is illustrated below, using the Visigoths sacking Rome to illustrate the point. The numbered points on the scale below are illustrated with examples. The spoken examples fall to the left of the midpoint of the scale and the written examples fall to the right.

most spoken 1 2

1 2

3

3

4

5

most written 6 7

Action only. Visigoths engaged in sacking Rome. What two Visigoths said to each other in the heat of battle. ‘Hey Waldemar, here’s a neat statue. Let’s bust in.’ o Language embedded in the action. You would have had to be there to know what there were talking about. Exophoric retrieval, specific reference, present tense, individual participants, vocatives, imperative and declarative mood A Roman watching the battle and telling his blind grandmother what was happening ... ‘Well Gran there’s a whole bunch of Visigoths doen there, big blond guys, horns on their hats and they’re busting all the statues and stuff.’ o Language constructing the action. Exophoric retrieval, specific reference, present in present tense, individual participants, vocatives, declarative mood


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4

5

6

7


A group of Visigoths reminiscing around the campfire the night after the battle. ‘Man, you should have seen Waldemar when he busted the statue. He totally trashed it. When its head flew off in nearly wasted Eric.’ o Language reconstructing the action. Specific reference, individual participants, past tense, vocatives A report of the sacking in the next day’s newspaper. ‘Almost the entire city was devastated in tha raid by marauding Visigoths on Thursday.’ o Language reconstructing the action but from a greater semiotec distance than in 4. Generic reference, past in past tense, location in time by circumstances, collective participants An explanation (time unspecified) of why Rome fell. ‘The fall of Rome can be attributed to a number of factors.’ o Language interpreting the action. Non-human (nominalised), participants, nominalised reasoning, present tense (passive) A work on Imperialism using Rome as an example. ‘While imperialism in an enduring ideology, the tendency is for empire not to endure. For example Rome ...’ o Language interpreting the action but from a greater semiotis distance. Abstract (nominalised) participant, nominalised modality, generic reference, simple present tense, text is more relational; in a longer text we would be likely to find a high proportion of relational Identifying Processes.

What we find is that the difference between consecutive points on the scale is not great but the differences between, say, 2 and 7 are. As we move along the scale we find a number of shifts. At each point the language becomes slightly less reliant on its immediate context. The significant shift here is when we switch from speaking to writing. As we shift along this scale, language is used more for interpreting the story rather than telling the story. Again the biggest shift here is around the midpoint of the scale. These shifts are not necessarily anything to do with temporal distance from the events. For instance if Waldemar lived to a ripe old age and told his granchildren about his statue busting exploits his retelling of the story would be quite like the


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complete story. Semiotically the story would be closer to the context than the next day’s newspaper report. The shifts discussed above can be summarised on the following acale.

most spoken

most written

context dependent

context independent

language in action

language as reflection

language as process

language as product

(dynamic)

(synoptic)

SPOKEN AND WRITTEN LANGUAGE DIFFERENCES By concentrating on points towards either end of teh scale above it is possible to identify a number of systematic differences between spoken and written language. Spoken and written language are both complex but in different ways. Spoken language tends to be complex grammatically and written language tends to be complex lexically. Spoken language tense to be lexically dense.

Grammatical Intricacy and Lexical Density Grammatical Intricacy In spoken language the content tends to be spread out over a number of clauses complex logico-semantic relations among them. The work of the meaning is spread out. The number of content words per clause tends to be low but the number of clauses per clause complex quite high. There also tends to be a high proportion of grammatical words per clause. Edited by Berti Nurul Khajati, for the Limited Community of STKIP Panca Sakti BEKASI

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Content words are words such as nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs. These words carry much of the experiential content of the clause. They are also words which come fromopen sets of options. For instance there is theoretically no limit to the number of nouns but to the number of, say, prepositions is finite. New nouns crop up every day but it is a while since anyone has come up with a new preposition. Grammatical words, on the other hand, come from closed sets of options. These are words such as prepositions, conjunctions, auxiliary verbs, modal verbs, pronouns and articles. The meanings they encode tend to support the experiential content of the clause. In spoken language then we tend to find the content of a message spread out over a number of clauses with a lot of grammatical support. For example (content words in bold, grammatical words in italics): I can’t mind the kids today because I must go to footbal training and I can’t leave early because we’ve got an important game on Saturday and if we win it we go into the finals but Wednesday’s fine because I don’t have training so I can mind them then If that’s OK with you. In the example above we find a pattern typical of spoken language. The example is one clause complex of ten clauses with quite complex logical relations among them. The content information is spread out over those ten clauses. Notice also that the further into the clause complex we go to the more grammar does. The number of content words per clause tends to decrease a little as more information canbe assumed. Edited by Berti Nurul Khajati, for the Limited Community of STKIP Panca Sakti BEKASI

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Lexical Density

If the above example were presented in a very written form it might look something like: Due to the importance (of win (in Saturday’s football game (as a prerequisite (for a final appearance)))) the necessity of my training attendance diminishes my child minding capacity tonight. However the lack of an attendance requirement on Wednesday allows my availability consequent upon your approval. This example contains more or less the same information but it is in two clauses rather than ten. What has changed is the way the information is distributed, the number of content words per clause has risen dramatically, or, the lexical dense has risen. Lexical density then is a measure of the amount of the content information in a clause (or in a text).lexical density is calculated by deviding the number of content words in a clause complex by the number of clauses in the complex. In the two examples discussed above, the lexical density of the spoken example is 2 (20 content words divided by 10). In the second example the lexical density is 16 in the first sentence (16 content words, one clause) and 8 in the second sentence. This give an average lexical density of 12 (24 content words divided by 2 clauses). Lexical density in itself is a reasonable measure of the readability of a text but it is only a guide. What is probably more important in written text is the grammatical changes which push the lexical density up. The key difference in the grammar of the two examples in the amount of grammatical metaphor. Let’s explore some of the main differences between the two examples. Participants: In the first example the major participants are the speaker, the kids and the football game. The main people involved in the interaction are realised as Paticipants through nominal groups (and pronouns). In the second example the human participants have been replaced by nominalisations and the human only appears as Possessive Deictics (my), e.g. the necessity of my training appeareance, my child minding capacity. These nominalisations condense much Edited by Berti Nurul Khajati, for the Limited Community of STKIP Panca Sakti BEKASI

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information that was spread out in the spoken example. Let’s look now at where some of the information from the first example is realised in the second, concentrating on nominal groups and TRANSITIVITY. For example: 1

the necessity of my training appearance D Thing Qualifier D Epithet Thing One nominal group functioning as Actor in the clause because I must go to football training Clause

2

I (Actor) my (Possessive Deictic) must (modal verb) necessity (Thing) go (Material Process) appearance (Thing) training (Thing) training (Epithet) my child minding capacity D Classifier Thing One nominal group functioning as Range I can’t mind the kids today Act. Proc. Mat. Range C.time I (Actor) my (Possessive Deictic) can’t (modal verb) capacity (Thing) mind (Material Process) minding (Classifier) the kids (Range) child (Classifier) the lack of an attendance requirement D Thing Qualifier D Epithet Thing because I don’t have Carr. Proc.Rel.

training Attribute


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3

I (Carrier) absent don’t (modal verb) lack (Thing) have (Relational Process) attendance (Epithet) training(Attribute) absent but assumed by attendance requirement your approval D Thing if

that Carr.

‘s P.Rel.

OK Att.

with you Circumstance

that (Carrier) anaphoric to previous text absent ‘s (Relational Process) absent OK (Attribute) approval (Thing) You (Circumstantial) Possessive Deictic

As we can see, information which was realised at clause rank in the first example is now realised at group rank in the second example. Through grammatical metaphor we find information which may cover a number of clause in a spoken text condensed into one nominal group in a very written text. This condensing of information leads to a loss of explicit grammatical support. For example, what has happened to the conjunctions in the fist example? Where are the logical connections between pieces of information now realised?


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Exercise 7.1

Below is an original written text followed by a ‘spoken’ reworking of the text. Calculate the lexical density of each text and try to observe what has happened to the text shifting from written to spoken language. The texts are repeated from Chapter 1. Content words are shown in bold. Written (original) All phone bills must be paid by the date shown or service will be discontinued. Spoken This is yer phone bill and you hafta go to the post office to pay it – uh by next Monday that’s what this box tells ya – or they’ll cut yer phone off.

Exercise 7.2 (Adapted from Halliday 1989), Only the written version is shown. See how many plausible spoken versions you can make. Consider how many possible unpackings (or readings) of the text are possible. The growth of attachment between a mother and infant signals the first step in thje development of the child’s capacity for discrimination amongst people.


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Exercise 7.3

Below is the spoken ‘Are governments necessary’ text from Chapter 5. Rewrite the text in a more written form. Do not go overboard with nominalisation for its own sake, but use what you know about written language to try to get the text to work better. I think governments are necessary because if there weren’t any there wouldn’t be any law and people would be killing each other. They help keep the system in order for certain things. If there wasn’t any federal government there wouldn’t be anyone to fix up problems in the country. It’s the same with the state governments. If the state governments didn’t exist there wouldn’t be anyone to look after the schools, vandalism and fighting would occur every day. The local government is important to look after rubbish because otherwise everyone would have diseases.


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CHAPTER 8

COHESION Edited by Berti Nurul Khajati, for the Limited Community of STKIP Panca Sakti BEKASI

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COHESION

We have now completed a whirlwind tour of English grammar. In this chapter and the next, we will be extending our grammatical insights into the realm of discourse semantics. So our focus shifts to include meaning making at both clause and text levels. In this chapter, therefore, we will be discussing cohesion and in the final chapters, genre will be the topic of discussion. Cohesion refers to the resources within language that provide continuity in a text, over and above that provided by clause structure and clause complexes. Hence, cohesive relations are non-structural relations which work to help a text hang together. We shall be looking at three of these kinds of relationship in this chapter: reference, lexical cohesion and conjunction.

Reference Reference refers to system which introduce and track the identity of Participants through text. It is related to textual meaning and thus to mode. We find very different patterns between spoken and written texts and these differences are accentuated the more ‘written’ the text is.

Reference, Retrieval and Mode If we come across, say, the word ‘it’ in a text, we cannot identify what ‘it’ is from that pronoun alone. We have to look elsewhere in the text or in the context to find the identity of ‘it’. Systems of Reference allows us to track Participants through text and to see where they have come from. We can find what are called chains in texts and these show how Participants can be tracked through the text. We will look briefly at two aspects of Reference: systems of Reference and Retrieval. Systems of Reference There are three main distinctions to make here: Whether the  Participant is being mentioned for the first time in the text (presenting reference) or whether it is a subsequent mention (presuming reference) Edited by Berti Nurul Khajati, for the Limited Community of STKIP Panca Sakti BEKASI

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 Reference is to a generic class or to a specific individual  Reference is comparative or not. These distinctions can be summarised as follows: generic specific presenting presuming +comparison - comparison These system is illustrated in the following short examples: 1

Most snakes move in a serpentine crawl. They throw their bodies into curves. Snakes: generic, presenting, -comparison They: generic, presuming, -comparison

2

We saw lots of snakes at Reptile World. Some of them came out of the logs and ate the dead mice but the other snakes stayed under the logs. lots of snakes: some of them: the other snakes:

specific, presenting, - comparison specific, presuming, - comparison specific, presuming, +comparison

There is one other Participant in this text, ‘the mice’, and two locations realised as nominal groups in prepositional phrases ‘Reptile World’ and ‘the logs’. All of these are presented as if already known, that is, the first time they occur in the text they occur as a presuming reference. If they are presumed, this means that we have to go outside the text to retreive their identity. This leads us to the other side of Participant identification, retrieval of the identities of Participants. Edited by Berti Nurul Khajati, for the Limited Community of STKIP Panca Sakti BEKASI

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Retrieval


In tracking who is who and what is what in a text we use systems of retrieval. If we take example (1) above, we retrieve the identity of ‘they’ by looking back in the text to the referent for the pronoun and we find ‘snakes’. This is known as anaphora. This is one of a number of types of phora. We can look at these by going back to the ideas of the Context of Culture and Situation. We can retrieve the identity of a Participant in several possible ways, either by reference to the context of culture or situation, or fom within the text or outside it. Retrieval through the contextof culture is known as homophora. This cultural context is not defined by size; it can refer to a whole culture, such as all the speakers of a language, or to a culture consisting of a couple of people. For example: When I woke up this morning, the sun was shining. In this text we retrieve the identity of ‘the sun’ through cultural knowledge; no one would ask ‘which sun?’. Or taking a smaller culture, if one of the couple asks ‘Have you fed the cat yet?’, the identity of the catis retrieved through cultural knowledge and is not in question. Or if I say, ‘I heard the prime minister on the radio this morning’, the identity of ‘the prime minister’ is retrieved through hompohora. Following, examples of homophora: community

homophoric nominal group

English speakers nations Catholics business family

the sun, the ozone layer, the star the prime minister, the president his Holiness the manager, the secretary the dog, the cat, the baby

If the text continued: ‘I heard the prime minister on the radio this morning and he said ...’, the first reference is retrieved through homophora and the second (‘he’) through anaphora. Edited by Berti Nurul Khajati, for the Limited Community of STKIP Panca Sakti BEKASI

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Turning to the more local context of situation, we can retrieve identity either from within the text or from its context. Retrieval from outside the text is called exophora. For example: That koala over there is really sleepy. To identify ‘that koala over there’ we would have to be in the context. This type of reference is very common in spoken text, where the context can be used to refer to and there is opportunity to check or confirm identity. It does not work so well in written text where such contextual information is not available. The reference patterns of spoken language are often a feature of writing in youngish children. Young children find it very difficult to recount an event to someone who wasn’t there. Reference within a text is broadly termed endophora. Within the text we can text, cataphora. For example: Some snakes, though not venomous, are still deadly. They squeeze their victim to death. (anaphora) Here we move back in the text to retrieve the identity of ‘they’. It was a venomous one that small green snake.

(cataphora)

Here we retrieve the identity of it by going forward in the text to that small green snake. The system of Retrieval can be summarrised as follows: context of culture (homophora) preceding (anaphora) Referent

verbal following (cataphora) context of situation non-verbal (exophora)


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There is another type of retrieval which is called bridging. This is where the reference is indirect, where we assume the identity of the part from the whole. For example: We walked towards the kiosk but the windows were bolted shut. Here, we retrieve the identity of ‘windows’ by virtue of them being part of the kiosk.

Analysing Reference In analysing for reference we are trying to track how Participants are distributed throughout a text. This is done by means of identity chains. There are five main identity chains in the following text: TEXT 1 (1)A copperhead snake made for me (2)one day when I was hoein’ my corn. (3)Happened I saw him in time, (4)and I lit into him with the hoe. (5)He thrased around, (6)bit the hoe-handle a couple of times, (7)but I fin’lly killed him. (8)Hung him on the fence. (9)Went on back to work, (10)and directly my hoe-handle felt thicker’n common. (11)I looked it over good (12)and it was swellin’. (13)The poison from that snakebite was workin’ all through it. (14)After I tried it a few more licks (15)it popped the shank (16)and the hoehead fell off. (17)So I threw that handle over by the fence; (18)went and fixed me another’n. (19)Got my corn hoed out about dark. (20)Week or two after that I was lookin’ over cornfield, (21)and I noticed a log in the fencerow. (22)Examined it right close (23)and blame if it wasn’t that hoe-handle! (24)Hit was swelled up big enough for lumber. (25)So I took it (26)and had it sawed. (27)Had enough boards to build me a new chicken house. (28)Then I painted it (29)and, don’t you know! – the turpentine in the paint took out all that swellin’, (30)and the next mornin’ my chicken house had shrunk to the size of a shoe box. (31)Good thing I hadn’t put my chickens in it! (From many sources in the southern Appalachians)


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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31


me I My (corn) I I

a copperhead snake

the hoe the hoe-handle

I (I) (I) my I

I

I (I) (I) my (corn) I my (cornfield) I (I)

I (I) (I) I my I my (chickens)

hoe-handle it it it

him him He (he) him him

the poison That snakebite

it it the shank the hoe-head that handle another

that hoe-handle Hit it it

a log it it

a new chicken house it chicken house it


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Reference is generally not seen as problematic until it goes wrong. People who have trouble with Reference and Retrieval include speakers of other languages learning English and young children learning to write; the difficulty for the latter is in transferring from the more context independent written mode. Like grammar, discourse semantics varies across languages. System of Reference and Retrieval are not the same across languages. For instance, speakers of a language such as Tagalog, which does not select for gender in third person ponouns, often produce texts where it is difficult for a native speaker of English to track the rapid genderchanges of Participants. It can become difficult to tell who is doing what to whom. Another particular difficulty is in very abstract written text, where there are often no human or concrete Participants and reference is to pieces of text rather than to Participants. A typical pattern is the one of saying ‘This demonstrates ...’ where ‘this’ is a section of preceding text. These patterns appear self-evident to accomplished readers and writers but are problematic for initiates.

Lexical Cohesion and Field Lexical cohesion refers to the relationships between and among words and in the relationships among them; these can be either more or less permanent, i.e. coming from institutions within the culture, or they can be established only for that text. Lexical cohesion is primarily related to Field. We discover the Field of a text through its content words. Fields tend to have specialised vocabularies and tend to engage in specialised activities. Thus we are interested not only in the words but also in the kinds of activities they engage in. In text types in which writer opinion or jugdment is offered, lexical cohesion is also revealing for interpersonal meanings, through use of attitudinal lexis and qualitative attributes. Hasan (1984) presents eight categories of lexical cohesion: General  Repetition (including inflection and derivation) e.g. leave, leave, leaving, left  Synonymy (similarity of meaning) e.g. leave, depart Edited by Berti Nurul Khajati, for the Limited Community of STKIP Panca Sakti BEKASI

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 Antonymy (opposite or contrastive meaning) e.g. leave, arrive  Hyponymy (classes/superordination and subclasses/is a type of) e.g. flower, rose rose – daffodil = co-hyponyms  Meronymy (whole-part relations) e.g. flower, petal petal – stem = co-meronyms Instantial  Equivalence (two or more items are one and the same in the context of some particular text) e.g. the sailor was their daddy  Naming (a participant’s name is provided) e.g. they called their puppy Fluffy  Semblance (two or more items in the text are said to resemble each other) e.g. The waves roared in and he could see there white caps looking like seahorses. Lexical items entering into this relationships form strings though a text,just as referential chains do.

TEXT 2 (1)The fearful roaring of the dragon guided the Knight to the monter’s teritory. (2)As the intruder crossed the dreaded marshes (3)the dragon charged furiously (4)whipping its enormous tail around the legs of the knight’s steed. (5)Horse and rider collapsed. (6)The Knight now realised (7)that he must attack (8)when the creature was off-guard. (9)He crouched down as though wounded. (10)The monster << (11)accustomed to speedy victory >> prepared to seize its prey. (12)Then the Knight struck powerfully beneathn the beast’s wing. (13)A despairing groan told the villagers (14)that they would be troubled no more. (Neale 1966)


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Main chains

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

dragon

Knight

dragon monster (inst. Equiv.)

Knight

(attack)

intruder (inst. Equiv.) dragon (repet.) tail (meronymy)

charged Knight (repet.) rider (inst. Equiv.) Knight (repet.) attack (syn.)

creature (hyponymy) monster (repet.)

prey (inst. Equiv.)

seize (syn.)

beast (syn.) wing (meronymy)

Knight (repet.)

struck (syn.)

roar

territory

13 14 Minor chains 1

fearful

2 3 4 5 12 13

dreaded (syn.) furiously (near-syn.)

marshes(inst. Equiv.) legs/steed (hypon.) horse (syn.)

powerfully (near-syn.) despairing (ant.)

groan (ant.)

Notice how reference works in tandem with lexical cohesion in the creation of texture of this text. Notice also the tight Theme/Rheme structure of the text.


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CONJUNCTION

Conjunction is the semantic system whereby speakers relate clauses in terms of temporal sequence, consequence, comparison and addition. Temporal relations connect clauses depending on whether the actions they encode take place at the same time or one after the other. Consequentional relations connect clauses as cause and effect. Comparative relations pick out contrasts and similaritiesbetween clauses. Additive relations add or substitute extra alternative clauses to a text. As well as being temporal, consequentional, comparative or additive, Conjunction may connect clauses externally as Ideational or phenomenological meanings, or internally as Textual meanings, that is, as a means of staging or organising the text as a text. To get a glimpse of what this distinction means, consider the following pair of examples: (a) (b)

John had a flat tire. Next he broke three spokes. John didn’t have a spare inner tube. Next he had forgotten his wrench.

In (a), John’s breaking his spokes is presented as an event following his having flat tire. In (b) on the other hand, the clauses are not related as one event following the other in time. In fact, as far as the world (b) describes is concerned, John left his wrench behind at the same time as he left his spare tube, not later. The temporal sequence in (b) has rather to do with the speaker’s organisation of the things she wants to say. Her meaning could be paraphrased along the line of: ‘First I’m telling you that John didn’t have a spare tube. Next I’m telling you that he forgot his wrench too.’ Most conjunctions can be used in these two ways, expressing either a relation between events in the real world or a relation between rhetorical acts within a text. A further factor which is relevant to the types of conjunctive relation found in English is whether the conjunction is paratactic (coordinating) or hypotactic (subordinating). Recall from our discussion of clause complexes (Chapter 4) that subordinate or hypotactic clauses cannot stand alone. Martin (1992:179) presents a useful summary of conjunctions. Edited by Berti Nurul Khajati, for the Limited Community of STKIP Panca Sakti BEKASI

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Distinctive Internal Additive Moreover In addition Alternatively Comparative Equally That is On the other hand

External/Internal Cohesive Paratactic Hypotactic And

and

besides

Or

or

if not ... then

Likewise

so^Finite

In contrast

but

like, as as if, like when whereas

Instead Temporal At the same time

except that

Meanwhile Troughout Previously, Thereupon

and while, when, meanwhile as long as then after, since, now that

To this end

so so

In conclusion,

Then, Otherwise Therefore,

After all Nevertheless Admittedly In this way

Finally, At first Consequential To this end Then

so that, lest, so as, in case if, even if, unless

so

because, as, since

For However,

but

although, in spite of

Yet Thus

and thus

by, thereby

To see what these distinctions look like in practice, the following paradigm is pesented: Cohesive conjunction: (temporal;external) We walk the ring with our dogs. Afterwards we just wait.


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Paratactic conjunction: (temporal;external) We walk the ring with our dogs and then we just wait.

Hypotactic conjunction: (temporal;external) (finite) After we walk the ring with our dogs, we just wait. (non-finite) Subsequent to walking the ring with our dogs, we just wait. Martin’s table, above, does not of course list every Conjunction in English. However, the table is useful for showing the relationship between those Conjunctions which serve acohesive function (Distinctive Internal serve a Textual function, and External/Internal cohesive serve either an Ideational or Textual function) and those which serve to link clauses into clause complexes. Our experience suggests that both non-English speaking students and native English speakers have difficulty with conjunction in writing. The former sometimes choose the wrong Conjunction (additive vs consequential, for example) and the meaning goes awry as a result. Native speakers don’t make this mistake very often, but some have a tendency to punctuate hypotactic clauses as though they were independent clauses. So, for example: Postman thinks education will not benefit from more technology. Whereas Perelman argues that technology will actually replace education. ‘Whereas’ is a hupotactic conjunction, and so the above mustbe punctuated as follows: Postman thinks education will not benefit from more technology, whereas Perelman argues that technology will actually replace education. When analysing Conjunction as an aspectof cohesion, the convention is to draw up a reticulum. Each clause is numbered and these numbers are listed down the page. Internal Conjunctive relations are noted to the left of these numbers and external ones to the right, except external additive relations which are indicated down the centre. In the following text all of the Conjunctions are in bold italic. The reticulum follows on the next page.


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TEXT 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28


Once upon a time there lived a little girl named Snow White. She lived with her Aunt and Uncle because her parents were dead. One day she heard her Uncle and Aunt talking about leaving Snow White in the castle because they both wanted to go to America and they didn’t have enough money to take Snow White. Snow White did not want her Uncle and Aunt to do this so she decided it would be best if she ran away. The next morning she ran away from home when her Aunt and Uncle were having breakfast. She ran away into the woods. She was very tired and hungry. Then she saw this little cottage. She knocked but no one answered so she went inside and fell asleep. Meanwhile, the seven dwarfs were coming home from work. They went inside. There they found Snow White sleeping. Then Snow White woke up. She saw the dwarfs. The dwarfs said what is your name. Snow White said: “My name is Snow White.” Doc said if you wish you may live here with us. Snow White said Oh could I Thank you. Then Snow White told the dwarfs the whole story and Snow White and the 7 dwarfs lived happily ever after. (From Martin 1992:418 – 9)


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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28


Conseq. Conseq. additive

Conseq. Temp.

Temp. Comp. Conseq. additive Temp.

Temp.

Temp. additive


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Exercise 8.1

Presented below are two pairs of student answers to short-answer questions. The first pair war written for Year II History in exam conditions. The second pair was written as homework inYear 9 Science. In each pair, one text is moe cohesive, and therefore more successful than the other. Identify those points where reference, lexical cohesion, and conjunction break down in less successful text in each pair.

History Task Comment on the significance of the ‘Tennis Court Oath’. Text A The Tennis Court Oath was an oath taken by all members of the newly formed National Constituent Assembly. They swore not to disband until France had a proper constitution. The Tennis Court Oath was the first step of defiance against the monarchy of France. Text B The Tennis Court Oath was a promise to the people of France that they would not rest until everyone was equal. It occured when the members of the Third Estate had been locked out of their meeting house. They then found a tennis court to meet. It is significant because it showed that ordinary man wanted to be better and was prepared to do something about it.

Science Task Choose one invertebrate that interests you. Describe its habitat, food and adaptations to life in its environment and its effects on other animals, plus any general information on it. Text C Funnel webs live in the sandstone country. They live in damp, cool shady places. It is adapted to live in ledges under sandstone and make a deep funnel-like web. Edited by Berti Nurul Khajati, for the Limited Community of STKIP Panca Sakti BEKASI

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It eats insects that pass by and one drop of its venom can kill 20 horses. It has killed 10 humans. All were male because they are 4 to 7 times deadlier. It can’t kill animals because of their fur and feathers but it can still bite animals but can’t effect them. Text D The funnel-web livesin sandstone country in and around Sydney. It is known to kill. It is adapted to live in its environment in that it find ledges under sandstone and digs a hole o depression in which to live. The funnel-web eats insects that pass by its lair, using its venomous fangs to stab and poison them. It cannot kill most large animals, e.g. cats and dogs, because the fangs cannot penetrate the hair.


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CHAPTER 9

THE GENRE – GRAMMAR CONNECTION Edited by Berti Nurul Khajati, for the Limited Community of STKIP Panca Sakti BEKASI

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GENRE

In the first eight chapters of this book, we have discussed aspects of systemic-funcional grammar in some detail. In this chapter we would like to return the genre – grammar connection. The notions ‘genre’ and ‘grammar’ are closely linked. In the materials being produced about genre and their teaching, at least those written by systemic linguists, characteristic lexicogrammatical features of genres are provided. These are neither incidental nor accidental, nor optional extras. Lexicogrammatical features of various genres are integral to these genres, for it is through the lexicogrammatical choices that meaning is built up in a text. Different genres deploy the recources for meaning-making through the grammar in different ways. For example, Recount, which retell an event, tend to use past tense, Material Processes and particular Participants (e.g. Skippy hopped, Geoffrey broke his arm in a fall, Mr. Smith sped). On the other hand, the purpose of Reports is to describe the way things are in the world, and so they tend to use Relational Processes and generic Participants (e.g. Kangaroos are marsupial mammals; they have pouches and their young are born highly immature). Students are taught these features and a language for talking about language (a metalanguage) in the context of learning how these features contribute to the overall meaning of texts they are reading or writing. Before proceeding to discuss the genres exemplified in the exercises you’ve done in earlier chapters, we would like first to dispel some misconceptions that have arisen with reference to genres and the genre-based approach to literacy teaching. Firstly, it should be noted that genres, their stages and characteristic lexicogrammatical features were not invented by systemic-linguists. The genres described were already out there in use in school and non-school environments. These genres arose in social interaction to fulfil humans’ social purposes. For this reason, all genres are equally valuable. But they are not all equally valued, especially in schools. When genre theorits suggest that all students be taught the genres used in schools, they are not suggesting that Edited by Berti Nurul Khajati, for the Limited Community of STKIP Panca Sakti BEKASI

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these are the only genres around, nor that these are more valuable than other genres used in the community. They do recognise, however, that some genres are more valued than others in the context of schooling. To give all students access to the valued genres is therefore a matter of equity. Secondly, the descriptions provided are just that, desciptions, not prescriptions or recipes. The staging and characteristic lexicogrammatical features of genres are probable, repesenting tendencies. They are not rigid or fixed. Genres represent potentials, within which individual creativity is not only possible but enhanced. However, to suggest that individuals can invent new genres at will is to misunderstand the nature of genres. Playing within a genre, for example juxtaposing unusual fields or skewing expected tenor relationship, is certainly possible. But to play within a genre, to bend it, requires having control of it in the first place. Several years ago Percival (1982) published a very successful spoof Research Report. Because he had full control of the genre of Research Report, Percival was able to send up this genre, but the send-up is related to the nature of the field, not the genre itself. The ‘research’ explored a variety of breakfast cereals in terms of their ‘crunch factor’ and how crunch factor interfered with oveseas students’ understanding of spoken English at their boarding house breakfast tables. Because it is an exemplary model of its type, Percival’s text is excellent for teaching the purpose, generic structure and lexicogrammatical features of Research Reports. The send-up works because it was the field, not the genre that was tampered with.


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GENRE USED IN THIS WORKBOOK Recall that genres are staged, goal-directed and purposeful. Thus, for any given text we can ask:  What is the social purpose or function and goal?  Through what stages does it achieve that goal?  What lexicogrammatical and discourse choices are involved in the above? A number of genres are exemplified in the exercises you’ve done in Chapters 2 – 8. For each of these, the above three questions are now addressed.


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Spoof


Social Function: To retell an event with a humorous twist. Generic (Schematic) Structure:  Orientation : sets the scene  Event(s): tell what happened  Twist: provides the ‘punchline’ Significant Lexicogrammatical Features:  Focus on individual Participants  Use of Material Processes  Circumstances of time and place  Use of past tense

(in bold below) (in italics below) (underlined below)

Penguin in the Park Orientation Once a man was walking in a park when he came across a penguin. Event 1 He took him to a policeman and said, ‘I have just found this penguin. What should I do?’ The policeman replied, ‘Take him to the zoo’. Event 2 The next day the policeman saw the same man in the same park and the man was still carrying the penguin with him. The policeman was rather surprised and walked up to the man and asked, ‘Why are you still carrying that penguin about? Didn’t you take it to the zoo?’ ‘I certainly did,’ replied the man, Twist ‘and it was a great idea because he really enjoyed it, so today I’m taking him to the movies!’


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Note that the ‘twist’ in this particular text is related to the Circumstances of place the penguin is taken to and to the man’s misinterpretation of the policeman’s (unspoken) reason for taking the penguin to the zoo.


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Recounts

Social Function: To retell events for the purppose of informing or entertaining Generic (Schematic) Structure:  Orientation: provides the setting and introduces participants  Events: tell what happened, in what sequence  Re – orientation: optional – closure of events Significant Lexicogrammatical Features:  Focus on specific Participants  Use of Material Processes  Circumstances of time and place  Use of past tense  Focus on temporal sequences

(in bold) (in italics) (underlined)

Earthquake Orientation I was driving along the coast road when the car suddenly lurched to one side. Event 1 At first I thought a tyre had gone but then I saw telegraph poles collapsing like matchsticks. Event 2 The rocks came tumbling across the road and I had to abandon the car. Event 3 When I got back to town, well, as I said, there wasn’t much left. Note that young writers often indicate temporal sequence with ‘and then, and then, and then’. Alternatives can be modelled and used when the teacher and students jointly construct Recounts.


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Reports

Social Function: To describe the way things are, with reference to a range of natural, manmade and social phenomena in our environment Generic (Schematic) Structure:  General Classification: tells what the phenomenon under discussion is  Description: tells what the phenomenon under discussion is like in terms of: parts (and their functions), qualities, habits or behaviours, if living; uses, if non-natural Significant Lexicogrammatical Features:  Focus on Generic Participants (in bold)  Use of Relational Processes (in italics) to state what is and that which it is  Use of simple presen tense (unless extinct)  No temporal sequence

Whales General Classification Whales are sea-living mammals. Description: (behaviours, qualities, parts) They therefore breathe air but cannot survive on land. Some species are very large indeed and the blue whale, which can exceed 30m in length, is the largest animal to have lived on earth. Superficially, the whale looks rather like a fish, but there are important differences in its external structure: its tail consists of a pair of broad, flat, horizontal paddles (the tail of a fish is vertical) and it has a single nostril on top of its large, broad head. The skin is smooth and shiny and beneath it lies a layer of fat (blubber). This is up to 30cm in thickness and serves to conserve heat and body fluids.


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Analytical Exposition

Social Function: To persuade the reader or listener that something is the case. Generic (Schematic) Structure:  Thesis Position: introduces topic and indicates writer’s position Preview: outlines the main arguments to be presented  Arguments Point: restates main argument outlined in Preview Elaboration: develops and supports each Point/Argument  Reiteration: restates writer’s position Significant Lexicogrammatical Features:  Focus on generic human and non-human Participants (bold)  Use of simple present tense  Use of Relational Processes (italics)  Use of internal Conjunction to stage argument (undelined)  Reasoning through Causal Conjunction or nominalisation (underlined)

Thesis: Position In Australia there are three levels of government, the federal government, state governments and local governments. All of these levels of government are necessary. This is so for a number of reasons. Argument 1 Point First, the federal government is necessary for the big things. Elaboration They keep the economy in order and look after things like defence.


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Argument 2 Point Similarly, the state governments look the middle size things.

Elaboration For example, they look after law and order, preventing things like vandalism in schools. Argument 3 Point Finally, local governments look after the small things. Elaboration They look after things like collecting rubbish, otherwise everyone would have diseases. Conclusion Thus, for the reasons above we can conclude that the three levels of government are necessary.


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News Item

Social Function: To inform readers, listeners or viewers about events of the day which are considered newsworthy or important Generic Stucture:  Newsworty Event(s): recounts the event in summary form  Background Events: elaborate what happened, to whom, in what circumstances  Sources: comments by participants in, witnesses to and authorities expert on the event Significant Lexicogrammatical Features:  Short, telegraphic information about the story captured in headline  Use of Material Processes to retell the event (in the text below, many of the Mateial Processes are nominalised)  Use of projecting Verbal Processes in Sources stage  Focus on Circumstances (in the text below, mostly in Qualifiers)

Town ‘Contaminated’ Newsworthy Event Moscow. – A Russian jounalist has uncovered evidence of another Soviet nuclear catasthrope, which killed 10 sailors and contaminated an entire town. Background Events Yelena Vazrshavskya is the first journalist to speak to people who witnessed the explosion of a nuclear submarine at the naval base of Shkotovo-22 near Vladivostock. The accident, which occured 13 months before the Chernobyl disaster, spread radioactive fall-out over the base and nearby town, but was covered by officials of the then Soviet Union. Residents were told the explosion in the reactor of a Victor-class submarine during a refit had been a ‘thermal’ and not a nuclear explosion. And those involved in the clean-up operation to Edited by Berti Nurul Khajati, for the Limited Community of STKIP Panca Sakti BEKASI

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remove more than 600 tonnes of contaminated material were sworn to secrecy. Sources A board of investigation was later to describe it as the worst accident in the history of the Soviet Navy.


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Anecdote

Social Function: To share with others an account of an unusual or amusing incident. Generic Structure:  Abstract: signalls the retelling of an unusual incident  Orientation: sets the scene  Crisis: provides details of the unusual incident  Reaction: reaction to the crisis  Coda: optional – reflection on or evolution of the incident Significant Lexicogrammatical Features:  Use of exclamation, rhetorical questions and intensifiers (really, very, quite, etc) to point up the significance of the events  Use of Material Processes to tell what happened  Use of temporal conjunctions

Snake in the Bath Abstract How do you like to find a snake in you bath? A nasty one too! Orientation We had just moved into a new house, which had been empty for so long that everything was ina terrible mess. Anna and I decided we would clean the bath first, so we set to, and turned on the tap. Crisis Suddenly to my horror, a snake’s head appeared in the plug-hole. Then out slithered the rest of his long thin body. He twisted and turned on the slippery bottom of the bath, spitting and hissing at us.


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Reaction For an instant I stood there quite paralysed. Then I yelled for my husband, who luckily came running and killed the snake with the handle of a broom. Anna, who was only three at the time, was quite interested in the whole business. Indeed I had to pull her out of the way or she’d probably have leant over the bath to get a better look! Coda We found out later that it was a black mamba, a poisonous kind of snake. It had obviously been fast asleep, curled up to the bottom of the nice warm water-pipe. It must have had an awful shock when the cold water came trickling down! But nothing to the shock I got! Ever since then I’ve always put the plug firmly before running the bath water.


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Narrative

Social Function: To amuse, entertain and to deal with actual or vicarious experience in differet ways; Narrative deal with problematic events which lead to a crisis or turning point of some kind, which in turn finds a resolution. Generic Structure:  Orientation: sets the scene and introduces the participants  Evaluation: a stepping back to evaluate the plight  Complication: a cisis arise  Resolution: the crisis is resolved, for better or for worse  Re – orientation: optional Significant Lexicogrammatical Features:  Focus on specific and usually individualised Participants  Use of Material Processes (and in this text, Behavioural and Verbal Processes)  Use of Relational Processes and Mental Processes  Use of temporal conjunctions, and temporal Circumstances  Use of past tense

Snow White Orientation Once upon a time there lived a little girl named Snow White. She lived with her Aunt and Uncle because her parents were dead. Major Complication One day she heard her Uncle and Aunt talking about leaving Snow White in the castle because they both wanted to go to America and they didn’t have enough money to take Snow White.


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Resolution Snow White did not want her Uncle and Aunt to do this so she decided it would be best if she ran away. The next morning she ran away from home when her Aunt and Uncle were having breakfast. She ran away into the woods. Complication She was very tired and hungry. Resolution Then she saw this little cottage. She knocked but no one answered so she went inside and fell asleep. Complication Meanwhile, the seven dwarfs were coming home from work. They went inside. There they found Snow White sleeping. Then Snow White woke up. She saw the dwarfs. The dwarfs said, ‘ What is your name?’ Snow White said ‘My name is Snow White.’ Major Resolution Doc said, ’If you wish, you may live here with us’. Snow White said, ‘Oh could (I) Thank you’. Then Snow White told the dwarfs the whole story and Snow White and the 7 dwarfs lived happily ever after.


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SEVERAL OTHER COMMON GENRES Procedure Social Function: To describe how something is accomplished through a sequence of actions or steps. Generic Structure:  Goal  Materials (not required for all Procedural texts)  Steps 1 – n (i.e. Goal followed by a series of steps oriented to acheiving the Goal) Significant Lexicogrammatical Features:  Focus on generelised human agents  Use of simple present tense, often Imperative  Use mainly of temporal conjunctions (or numbering to indicate sequence)  Use mainly of Material Processes

The Hole Game Materials needed two players one marble per person a hole in ground a line (distance) to start from Methods (Steps 1 – n) 1. First you must dub (click marbles together). 2. Then you must check that the marbles are in good condition and are nearly worth the same value. 3. Next you must dig a hole in the ground and draw a line distance away from the hole. 4. The first player carefully throws his or her marble towards the hole. Edited by Berti Nurul Khajati, for the Limited Community of STKIP Panca Sakti BEKASI

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5. Then the second player tries to throw his or her marble closer to the hole than his or her opponent. 6. The player whose marble is closest to the hole tries to flick his or her marrble into the hole. If successful, this player tries to flick his or her opponent’s marble into the hole. The person flicking the last marble into the hole wins and gets to keep both marbles. (text used with permission: J. Boustead 1993)

Description Social Function: To describe a paticular person, place or thing. Generic Structure:  Identification: identifies phenomenon to be described  Description: describes parts, qualities, characteristics Significant Lexicogrammatical Features:  Focus on specific Participants  Use of Attributive and Identifying Processes  Frequent use of Epithet and Classifiers in nominal groups  Use of simple present tense

Natural Bridge National Park Identification Natural Bridge National Park is a luscious tropical rainforest. Description It is located 110 kilemetres south of Brisbane and is reached by following the Pacific Highway to Nerang and then by travelling through the Numinbah Valley. This scenic roadway lies in the shadow of the Lamington National Park.


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The phenomenon of the rock formed into natural ‘arch’ and the cave through which a waterfall cascades is a short 1 kilometre walk below a dense rainforest canopy from the main picnic area. Swimming is permitted in the rock pools. Night-time visitors to the cave will discover the unique feature of the glow worms. Picnic areas offer toilets, barbeques, shelter sheds, water and fireplaces; however, overnight camping is not permitted. (text source: Paul Attwood 1990:42)

Hortatory Exposition Social Function: To persuade the reader or listener that something should or should not be the case. Generic Structure:  Thesis: announcement of issue of concern  Arguments: reasons for concern, leading to recommendation  Recommendation: statement of what ought to or ought not to happen Significant Lexicogrammatical Features:  Focus on generic human and non-human Participants, except for speaker or writer referring to self  Use of o Mental Processes: to state what writer thinks or feels about issue e.g. realise, feel, appreciate o Material Processes: to state what happens e.g. is polluting, drive, travel, spend, should be treated o Relational Processes: to state what is or should be e.g. doesn’t seem to have been, is  Use of simple present tense Note that Hortatory Exposition goes by several different names, including argument and persuasion,in various sources. We prefer Martin’s (1985) original term. Hortatory Exposition differs from Analytical Exposition in Edited by Berti Nurul Khajati, for the Limited Community of STKIP Panca Sakti BEKASI

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that the latter argues that X is the case. Hortatory Exposition argues that X ought to or ought not to be or should or should not be the case. The latter type of Exposition exhort someone to take or to desist in some action. It should be further noted that letters to the editor are common, though not sole source of Hortatory Expositions. The letter format is a matter of Mode, not of genre. Hortatory Expositions, Recounts, Anecdotes, even Advertisements can be written in the form of a letter, but this does not change the genre concerned. Genre is driven by functional purpose, not form.

Country Concern Thesis In all the discussion over the removal of lead from petrol (and the atmosphere) there doesn’t seem to have been any mention of difference between driving in the city and the country. Argument While I realise my leaded petrol car is polluting the air wherever I drive, I feel that when you travel through the country, where you only see another car every five to ten minutes, the problem is not as severe as when traffic is concentrated on city roads. Argument Those who want to penalise older, leaded petrol vehicles and their owners don’t seem to appreciate that, in the country, there is no public tramsport to fall back upon and one’s own vehicle is the only way to get about. Recommendation I feel that country people, who often have to travel huge distances to the nearest town and who already spend a great deal of money on petrol, should be treated differently to the people who live in the city. (Name provided; text source: The Road Ahead 1993:24)


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Explanation

Social Function: To explain the processes involved in the formation or workings of natural or sociocultural phenomena Generic Structure:  A general statement to position to the reader  A sequenced explanation of why or how something occurs Significant Lexicogrammatical Features:  Focus on generic, non-human Participants  Use mainly of Material and Relational Processes  Use mainly of temporal and causal Circumstances and Conjunctions  Use of simple present tense  Some use of Passive voice to get Theme right The text below assumes a somewhat chatty style, the product of its tenor. Therefore it includes generic human Participants (we). Given the field, speech production, there are also several Behavioural Processes, namely exhale and breathe.

A Brief Summary of Speech Production General Statement to Position the Reader Speech production is made possible by the specialised movements of our vocal organs that generate speech sounds waves. Explanation Like all sound production, speech production requires a source of energy. The source of energy for speech production is the steady stream of air that comes from the lungs as we exhale. When we breath nomally, the air stream is inaudible. To become audible, the air stream must vibrate rapidly. The vocal cords cause the air stream to vibrate.


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Explanation As we talk, the vocal cords open and close rapidly, chopping up the steady air stream into a series of puffs. These puffs are heard as a buzz. But this buzz is still not speech. Explanation To produce speech sounds, the vocal tract must change shape. During speech we continually alter the shape of the vocal tract by moving the tongue and lips, etc. These movements change the acoustic propeties of the vocal tract, which in turn produce the different sounds of speech. (Text adapted from: Denes and Pinson 1963)

Discussion Social Function: To present (at least) two points of view about an issue Generic Structure:  Issue o Statement o Preview  Arguments for and against or Statements of differing points of view o Point o Elaboration  Conclusion or Recommendations Significant Lexicogrammatical Features:  Focus on generic human and generic non-human Participants  Use of o Material Processes e.g. has poduced, have developed, to feed o Relational Processes e.g. is, could have, cause, are o Mental Processes e.g. feel  Use of Comparative:contrastive and Consequentional Conjunctions  Reasoning expressed as verbs and nouns (abstraction)


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Gen Splicing

Issue Genetic research has produced both exciting and frightening possibilities. Scientists are now able to create new forms of life in the laboratory due to the development of gene splicing. Arguments for Point On the other hand, the ability to create life in the laboratory could greatly benefit mankind. Elaboration For example, because it is very expensive to obtain insulin from natural sources, scientists have developed a method to manufacture it inexpensively in the laboratory. Point Another beneficial application of gene splicing is in agriculture. Elaboration Scientists foresee the day when new plants will be developed using nitrogen from the air instead of from fertilizer. Therefore food production could be increased. In addition, entirely new plants could be developed to feed the world’s hungry people. Arguments against Point Not everyone is excited about gene splicing, however. Some people feel that it could have terrible consequences. Elaboration A laboratory accident, for example, might cause an epidemic of an unknown disease that could wipe out humanity. Conclusion As a result of this controversy, the government has made rules to control genetic experiments. While some members of scientific community feel that


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these rules are too strict, many other people feel that they are still not strict enough. (Text adapted from: Oshima and Hogue 1983:31)

Reviews Social function: To critique an art work or event for a public audience Such work of art include moveis, TV shows, books, plays, operas, recordings, exhebitions, concerts and ballets. Generic Structure:  Orientation: places the work in its general and particular context, often by comparing it with others of its kind or through analogue with a non-art object or event  Interpretative Recount: summarises the plot and/or provides an account of how the reviewed rendition of the work came into being; is optional, but if present, often recursive  Evaluation: provides an evaluation of the work and/or its performance or production; is usually recursive  Evaluative Summation: provides a kind of punchline which sums up the reviewer’s opinion of the art event as a whole; is optional The Oriantation is typically provided by the reviewer while the Interpretative Recounts and Evaluations can be provided by the reviewer, and optionally a source (that is, someone who participated in the creation and/or performance of the work). The Evaluative Summation is provided by the reviewer. Significant Lexicogrammatical Features:  Focus on Particular Paticipants  Direct expressionof opinions through the use of attitudinal lexis (value-laden vocabulary) including: Attitudinal Epithets in nominal groups; qualitative Attributes and Affective Mental Processes Edited by Berti Nurul Khajati, for the Limited Community of STKIP Panca Sakti BEKASI

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 Use of elaborating and extending clause and group complexes to package the information (evident especially in paragraphs 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6 below)  Use of metaphorical language (e.g. The wit was there, dexterously ping ponged to and fro ...) It is important to note that the genre for reviewing books, concerts, and theatre is the same genre even though three different media are involved. Changing the medium (a Mode, and therefore a Register, variable) does not change the genre.

Private Lives Sparkle Orientation Since the first poduction of ‘Private Lives’ in 1930, with the theatre’s two leading sophisticates Noel Coward and Gertrude Lawrence in the leads, the play has tended to be seen as a vehicle for stars. Evaluation QUT Academy of the Arts’ production boasted no ‘stars’, but certainly fielded potential stars in a spakling perfomance that brought out just how fine a piece of craftsmanship Coward’s play is. Evaluation More than 60 years later, what new could be deduced from so familiar a theme? Director Rod Wissler’s highly perceptive approach went beyond the glittery surface of witty banter to the darker implications beneath. Interpretative Recount With the shifting of attitudes to social values, it become clear that Victor and Sibyl were potentially the more admirable of the couples, with standards better adjusted than the volatile and self-indulgent Elyot and Amanda. Evaluation The wit was there, dexteriously ping-ponged to and fro by the vibrant Amanda (Catherine Jones) and a suave Elyot (Daniel Kealy). Evaluation Edited by Berti Nurul Khajati, for the Limited Community of STKIP Panca Sakti BEKASI

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Julie Eckersley’s Sibyl was a delightful creation, and Pillip Cameron-Smith’s more serious playing was just right for Victor. Jodie Levesconte was a superb French maid. James Maclean’s set captured the Thirties athmosphere with many subtle touches. Evaluative Summation All involved deserve the highest praise. (Text source: B. Hebden 1993:137)

Exercise 9.1 The text below is a send-up, using one of the genre outlined in this chapter. 1 2 3 4

Identify the genre. Identify the social purpose. On the text, indicate the generic stages. By circling, underlining or colour coding, identify the significant lexicogrammatical features within the text that help realise this genre.

Evolution From Cushion to Future Bear Where did bears came from? Bear as we know him has not existed on this earth for a very long period of time, but his predecessors may go back many hundreds of years. Most authorities now believe that the handsome, twolegged bear today evolved from a single-celled organism – a speck of dust perhaps. Then gradually, through natural selection and survival of the fittest speck, cotton wool balls developed. We do not know exactly when the first soft furnishings appeared on earth, but they must have been very simple beings. In the beginning was the Cushion. Not very impressive object – simply a lump of padding material held together with some sort of covering – but Edited by Berti Nurul Khajati, for the Limited Community of STKIP Panca Sakti BEKASI

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from this inauspicious start developed two reptilian forms that were direct ancestors of modern bear. One of the first evolutionary steps occured when a mutant, mis-shappen Cushion was created. He must have appeared very strange to his fellow cushions, but he was the first Bean Bag Frogs. Filled with beans, rice or other non-toxic substance, he had two eyes and four legs. Bean Bag Frogs, however, were pretty useless on land, being incredible floppy, and in water they tended to sink. At about the same time as the Bean Bag Frog was emerging, the Cushion was developing along different lines into the Draught Excluder. At first merely a long thin Cushion, it gradually evolved eyes, a forked tongue and a patterned body. Its tendency to lie along the bottom of draughty doors perhaps points to the lack of an efficient body cooling mechanism. From these rather basic creatures the fist Toy Dog developed. Long and thin like a Draught Excluder, and with four legs like a Bean Bag Frog, he still had difficulty in moving about owing to his very short appendages. Movement became easier with the invention of the wheel. Dog-on-Wheels was very successful species for many years but is now threatened with extinction. A few remain in capacity but they appear to have difficulty reproducing themselves under these circumstances. When the first soft toy stood up and walked on two legs instead of four, modern (Teddy) bear was born. (Adapted from: B. Herridge 1983:10 – 11)


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CHAPTER 10

GENRE ACROSS THE CURRICULUM Edited by Berti Nurul Khajati, for the Limited Community of STKIP Panca Sakti BEKASI

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GENRE ACROSS THE CURRICULUM In the previous chapter we explored the genre – grammar connection in relation to individual genres. In this chapter the emphasis shifts from individual genres to looking at what kinds of patterns of genres are found in different major curriculum areas in secondary education. The focus is on junior secondary school because this is the site where students usually begin their apprenticeship in the different doscourses discussed below. What concerns us here is looking for characteristic configurations of genres in different curriculum areas. In this chapter it is our intention to paint a broader picture of genre and its function in education. In secondary education genres do not occur in isolation; different curriculum areas employ particular selections and patterns of genres. They do this because they are trying to acheive different things. In this chapter we look at characteristic sets of genres from two curriculum areas which provide a contrast in linguistic choices: technology and aplied science and history. These curriculum areas represent two contrasting types of discourse, technical discourse and the humanities. We look at which genres are typically most significant in these curriculum areas and at how those genres relate to each other. In doing this we have used an adaptation of Martin’s (1984) Mode scale, looking at changes in language as we shift from language which is embedded in or located close to action to language whichis more reflective. In keeping with the spirit of many history textbooks, we invite you to revisit ancient Rome as the Visigoths arrived. Please forgive the add anachronism and the use of English be the Visigoths and Romans. (See Chapter 7, also, for discussion of this example.) Use the scale below as a reference point. action 1

reflection 2

3

4

5

6

7


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The following sequence takes us along this scale. Each example corresponds to a number on the scale. We begin with language embedded in the action and each subsequent step takes us a little further from the action. 1 2

Visigoths busily engaged in sacking Rome (action only) What two Visigots said to each other in the heat of battle

‘Hey Waldemar, here’s a neat statue, let’s bust it’ Here we find language embedded in the action. A person would have to be there to know who Waldemar was and which statue he was referring to. The example features vocatives (Waldemar),exophoric retrieval (a neat statue), present tense (‘s), impeative mood (let’s bust), individual participants (Waldemar and the Visigoth talking to him). 3

A Roman watching the battle telling his blind grandmother what was happening

‘Well gran there’s a whole bunch of Visigoths outside, big, blond guys, horns on their hats and they’re busting all the statues and stuff’ Here we find language constructing the action. Someone is describing the action to who can’t see it, rather like a radio commentary on the cricket. Salient language features here are, vocatives (Gran), specific reference (all the statues), some exophoric retrieval (it assumed that Gran knows which statues), present in present tense (are busting), collective participants (a whole bunch of Visigoths). 4

A group of Visigoths reminiscing around the campfire that night

‘Man, you should have seen Waldemar when he busted that statue. He totally trashed it. Its head really flew off and nearly wasted Eric.’ In this example we find language reconstructing the action. Salient language features are specific reference (that statue), individual participants (Waldemar), past tense (busted). 5

A newspaper report on the sacking based oneye-witness accounts

Almost the entire city was devastated in a series of raids by marauding Visigoths Edited by Berti Nurul Khajati, for the Limited Community of STKIP Panca Sakti BEKASI

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In this example language is reconstructing the action but from a greater semiotic distance than in example 4. The salient linguistic features are generic reference (Visigoths), collective or generic participants (Visigoths), past in past tense (was devastated). 6

An explanation of why Rome fell, say, in an encyclopedia

The fall of Rome can be attributed to a number of factors. We move now into language interpretingin action. The language features non-human (nominalised) participants (fall), nominalised reasoning (factors), a shift back to present tense (passive voice) (can be attributed to). 7

A work on Imperialism using Rome as an example

While Imperialism is an enduring ideology the tendency is for empires not to endure. For example, Rome ... Here we find language also interpreting action but from further away. Language features include non-human (abstract) participants (imperialism), nominalised modality (tendency), generic reference (empires), simple present tense (is). Notice that the differences in language between adjacent points on the scale are often quite small, for example a small shift in tense, but that the differences between the ends are great, for example in what or who participants are and how they are realised. The shifts from language in action to language as reflection outlined here proceed in small, but systematic, steps but the language at the reflective end of the scale is very different from the language at the action end.

Activity 1 Choose some aspect of human activity that interestsyou and construct examples for each point on the scale. As you do this think about the changes you are making in your choice of language. Returning to the present we will now show how all this in with genre and secondary school subject areas.


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The example texts used in the rest of this chapter come from textbooks in current and common use in the Australian secondaryeducation system. Textbooks were chosen as the source ot texts for two reasons:  They are in common use in schools and are one of the main methods of apprenticeship in a displine  They are designed by practicioners in a field to introduce initiates to that field Thus it is argued that they represent typical, or ‘unproblematic’ discourse patterns of their respective fields. By ‘unproblematic’ we mean that they tend to represent the ortodoxy of their field. Using the patterns of discourse found in the textbooks suggest that the courses of secondary education can be classified into four types:  Technical (e.g. metalwork, textiles)  Science (e.g.biology, geology, geography – particularly physical geography)  Social science (e.g. commerce, the social parts of geography)  Humanities (e.g. history) Subjects like mathematics and physics represent another category,perhaps midway technical and science,and are not discussed in this chapter. The classification is based onlinguistic evidence of the following kinds:  Selection and pattern of genres in the discourse  Register orientation, particularly field and mode  Lexicogrammatical patterns. What follows concemtrates mainly on genre. There will be some reference to register and a little reference to lexicogrammar. The following questions underlie the discussion of these three types of evidence:  What is the distinctive pattern of genres in this discourse?  How do these genres relate to each other?  What are the implications of this for teaching and learning?


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How do Different Subjects Work?

The assumption behind this question is that different subject areas are like they are because they are doing particular jobs and that the language resousces they use are therefore functional (in some way and for someone). Thus the patterns of genres and associated patterns of language will be determined by what the discourse is fundamentally trying to ‘do’ and trying to get students to do. There is, of course, some overlap but different subject areas tend to make different selections of genre, different choices in register, particularly in relation to mode and field, and they make different lexicogrammatical choices. This chapter concentrates on selection and pattern of genres in two different curriculum areas, technical and humanities, because they show patterns which are almost mirror images of each other: they move in opposite directions. If we look at technical subjects, represented here by metalwork and textiles, and at humanities subjects, repesented by history, we can see very different choices in operation, which are determined by whether the discourse is what we are calling ‘action oriented’ or ‘information oriented’. ‘Action oriented’ is defined as meaning that the primary purpose of the discourse is to move people into action, to get them to do something. In ‘information oriented’ discourses, the primary purpose is seen to be reflection on and interpretationof action. This contrast is perhaps best explained through reference to the mode scale discussed earlier. Using this scale tointerpret shifts in genre (and in language) we find that in technical subjects there is a general shift from text to action and the genaral pattern of generic and language choice shifts students from text into action. In history opposite applies; students are shifted from action, or more accurately, from texts which, in terms of mode, are situated close to the action to texts which interpret action. There is thus a shift from action to text (reflection).


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Technical Subjects

The following is a typical sequence of genres found in technical texts. The metalwork texts chosen are taken from Abelson and Patemon (1988). Examples of the relevant genres are presented and discussed immediately after scale. action doing

Text A

reflection procedure

protocol

report

argument

Argument: Metalwork

Safety in the Workshop Safety in the wokshop should be the responsibility of all people who enter it, whether they are visitors or workers. Safety first is not a set of rules, it is a state of mind. Rules help the workers develop a safe attitude to work by drawing to their attention potentially dangerous situations; but in the long run, it is the workers’ actions which cause accidents. It is important that people obey the safety regulations set down, but just as important is the workers’ knowledge of what he or she is doing, what dangers this operation entails, and what should be done to work safely. To aid the reader to work in a safe manner, a safety guide has been appointed and whenever he appears in the book he will bring you advice on how to carry out an operation safely. His name is Mr. Safety. Function: The purpose of this text is to convince students that some kind of behaviour is necessary. In this case why it is necessary to behave safely in a workshop.


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Language Features:

 Endophoric retrieval: the text is self-contained; it is not necessary to look outside the text  Generic reference: the text efes to any and all workshops, not any particular workshop  Nominalisation: safety, responsibility  Generic participants: the worker  Internal logical oganisation: the text is organised around reasons for being safe  Declarative mood: giving information

Activity 2 Find examples in the text of the language features mentioned. Comment any other features you conside to be salient. Repeat this process for each text.

Text B

Report (Part-Whole): Metalwork

Parts of a Lathe The lathe is divided into four main parts: bed, headstock, tailstock and carriage. Bed The bed is the foundation of the lathe. It is made from cast iron and rigidly secured to the lathe stand. The top surface of the bed is accurately machined to form the bed ways or vee ways. All the other parts of the lathe sit on and slide along these bed ways. The accuracy of the lathe is determined by the accuracy of the ways and care should always be taken to keep them in perfect condition.


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Headstock


The headstock is secured to the lefthand end of the bed and sits on the bed ways, its main purpose being to supply the motive power for the lathe. The headstock contains the belts, pulleys or gears, which bring the power from the motor to the workpiece so that it can be machined. Tailstock The tailstock has the job of supporting the loose end of the metal while it is machined. The tailstock canbe used to support a drill chuck for drilling as well as other devices. Carriage The carriage is used to support the lathe tool and move it so as to cut the metal. It slides along the bed ways. Function: The text sets up part-whole taxonomies within the field. It takes a large phenomenon (of lathe) and divides it systematically into its component parts. Language Features:  The logical organisation is field driven: (the text’s structure is governed by those parts of the lathe’s structure that are important to the field)  Technicality: parts are named (headstock, tailstock) and the parts are ordered taxonomically  Generic reference: the text refers to any and all lathes  Simple present tense: the text is not bound by any specific time frame


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Text C Report (Class or Sub-Class): Textiles Fibres Fibres canbe divided into three categoies. Animal(protein) wool silk cashmere

Plant(cellulose) cotton flax rayon

Chemical(synthetic) polyester acrylic

The most common fibres used are wool, cotton and polyester. Wool Wool is the fleece or the sheep that is spun or woven after the animal has been shorn. Differet qualities of wool come from different varieties of sheep. Fleeces of merino sheep are most commonly used in Australia. Wool is a protein fibre called keratine. Like human hair, wool fibres have scales which overlap each other. It is because of this scales, which trap the air, that wool keeps you feeling warm or cool. Cotton Cotton comes from the seed pod of the cotton plant. It is a cellulose fibre, consisting of plant cells, and has different properties from protein fibres. The cotton plant is a dark green bushy plant that grows in warm, moist climates. In Australia, cotton is grown in northern New South Wales and Queensland. Cotton is a fibre with a gentle twist. Cotton may also go through a process called mercerisation. This is when cotton is treated in a bath of caustic soda; this strengthens the fibre and gives in a shine. Polyester Polyester is a syntetic fibre that is made from by-products of petroleum and chemicals. It is a very straight and smooth fibre. (From Hynes and Kovesdy 1991) Edited by Berti Nurul Khajati, for the Limited Community of STKIP Panca Sakti BEKASI

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Function:


The text similar to text B except that it sets up class-sub-class relationships within the field rather than part-whole relationships. Language Features: Features are much the same as for text B; the logical organisation is field driven, technicality.

Text D

Protocol: Metalwork

Spanners 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Never strike a spanner with a hammer or use a pipe over the handle to increase the leverage. Always pull a spanner; don’t push it. Always select a snug-fitting spanner. Don’t use adjustable spanners unless a fixed jaw spanner is not available. Repair damage spanner jaws and discard spanners with spread jaws. When using adjustable spanners, place the fixed jaw behind the nut. Make sure there is sufficient room for the spanner to turn in.

Function: This text sets out the preconditions for doing something. It is similar to a procedure except that the numbers do not represent a sequence of events; they represent a set of conditions, all of which need to be fulfilled. The text takes something from the field (spanners) and tells the readers in generic terms how they should be used. Language Features:  Imperative mood: the text is directed towards future action by a second person Edited by Berti Nurul Khajati, for the Limited Community of STKIP Panca Sakti BEKASI

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 Generic reference: the text refers to any all spanners  No sequenced in time

Text E

Procedure: Metalwork

The procedure for cutting external threads is as follows: 1. To cut the external thread (commonly called screwing), first prepare the cylinder to the size of the thread’s major diameter. 2. If the metal has a scaled surface, remove the scale. 3. File the end of the bar flat and square to the axis of the bar. 4. Taper the end of the bar slightly for about 5mm to aid the diecutting. 5. Adjust the die oversize and place it on the rod. 6. Press the die down to start, turn clockwise and reverse the die each quarter turn to break the chip. 7. Cut the thread to the required length and remove the die. 8. Try the thread against the internal thread it is work against. 9. If the thread is a tight fit, adjust the die to a slightly smaller size and recut the thread. 10.Continue testing and adjusting untilthe threads mate with one another. Function: The text tells the reader how to do a particular job. It tells the reader what tools and materials are necessary and takes the reader or user step by step through the sequence of actions necessary to complete the job successfully. Language Features:  Imperative mood: the text is directed towards the reader doing something with the text. It is a guide to specific action.  Sequenced in time: the logical organisation of the text is driven by the nature of job.  Exophoric retrieval: tools and materials are assumed to be in the context and the reader or user knows what and where they are. Edited by Berti Nurul Khajati, for the Limited Community of STKIP Panca Sakti BEKASI

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 Specific reference: to specific items in the immediate context (the workshop)

Summary The shifts from reflection to action in technical subjects occur in a number of places. Among these are shifts:  Logical organisation: from predominantly internal conjunctive relations, to relationships driven by the field (primarily through lexical cohesion), to external, temporally sequenced relations.  Reference and retrieval patterns: from generic to specific and from endophoric to exophoric.  Mood choice: from declarative to imperative.  Congruence: from relatively abstract to congruent. The effect of these shifts in choice of language is that they bring the student progessively closer to the action and in doing so they progressively enable the student to ‘do’. In a sense they also repesent a shift from collective experience to individual experience. This is summarised in the following diagram action

reflection

activity

text

individual experience

collective experience

Humanities In the humanities, taking history as an example, the movement is the opposite direction. We find a general movement from texts which are situated close to action and could perhaps more accurately be regarded a substitutes for action to texts which are more distant from and interpret action. In history, for instance, the most common genres are for the mort Edited by Berti Nurul Khajati, for the Limited Community of STKIP Panca Sakti BEKASI

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part different from those found in technical subjects. Similarly the direction students are taken in is further away from the action and towards intepretation of text. A typical set of genres from a standard history textbook is as follows: recount, narrative, biography, historical recount or narrative, report, factorial explanation, argument or discussion. Following, an example of each genre discussed. Texts A, B and E are taken from Bowering et al. 1987, C and F are from Simmelhaig and Spenceley 1984, and D from Shuter and Child 1987.

Text A

Narrative

What did the Aborigines think of the newcomers? This story is the work of an Aboriginal child, Stanley Jangala Gallacher. Awamrigurr – The Strangers For many years there were only Aboriginal people living here. They hunted for food and meat for their families. Sometimes they went to the river to spear fish or other ceatures. One day, the men went to the river to spear the fish. As the came to the river, they saw a boat with some strange men in it. The Aboriginal men were frightened so they hid themselves in the bush, waiting for the boat to come. They were standing on the sand talking and they went into the bush. One of the Aboriginal men went to the top of a hill and stayed there watcing the white men come closer and closer. He told his men that the strange men were coming, and one by one they took their spears to the very top of the hill. Then two of the Aboriginals rolled some big rocks down the hill towards the white men. But they saw the rock coming and hid themselves in a corner. The rocks rolled past them. The Abiriginal men thought that the strange men were killed, but they were hiding behind a big rock. Then the white men saw a black man and fired a gun. The Aboriginals ran away and hid themselves again. Edited by Berti Nurul Khajati, for the Limited Community of STKIP Panca Sakti BEKASI

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When the white men were finishing, they started back for their ship but as they went post, the Aboriginal men began to throw their spears. The strange men ran and dodged so that the spears would not hit them. They jumped on board their boat and saileda away from the land, and they never came back again. When they were sailing away, the Aboriginal men were standing on the sand wacthing them. After they disappeared, the men did a wild dance until it was dark. Function: The text functions as a reconstruction of events. It provides a vicarious experience of them. Language Features:  The text has a narrative (orientation, complication, resolution) structure  It is sequencedin time (the order of the text is driven by the order of the event in the world)  It uses past tense  The focus is on participants, what they did and what happened to them  The text uses specific reference

Activity 3 Find examples in the text of the language features mentioned. Comment on any other features you conside to be salient. Repeat this process for each text.


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Text B


Biography

Captain James Cook James Cook, perhaps the greatest of English explorers, was born into a poor farming family in Yolkshire in 1728. When James was still young his father was made a farm manager and the family became a bit more prosperous. James had a little education before he started work, first with a grocer and then a shipowner. His second employer helped him to study further, but on the age of 26, James Cook made the biggest decision of his life – to join the British Navy. Not many people are willing to go backwards in life but James Cook did. The shipowner had just offered him a chance to be in charge of a ship. Instead he became an ordinary sailor on low pay. Why? He loved the sea and he felt that because England was in war with France, he could become an officer quickly. His gamble paid off. On his first ship he met a captain who appreciated his abbilities and helped him. Within a month he was promoted. In the next 10 years he made many trips to North America. He became famous for his maps of the coast and rivers and was soon well known as an excellent leader and navigator. When Cook was 40 years old, the British Navy chose him for anunusual job. He was given command of an ugly, flat-bottomed ship called Endeavour. Both captain and ship were chosen for their experience and reliability. The Endeavour made one trip but James Cook completed three more trips before he was killed in Hawaii. Function: This text has a similar function to the narrative above except that it deals with edited highlights of events from a person’s life rather than one set of events. It is asecondary or tertiary source of information. Language Features:  The text features past tense Edited by Berti Nurul Khajati, for the Limited Community of STKIP Panca Sakti BEKASI

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 It is set rather than sequenced in time (through circumstances)  The text focuses on an individual, speific reference

Text C

Historical Recount

The European battlefront was a very different affair from the situation in the Middle East. Early in April 1917, the 1st Anzact Corps was transported to that part or northern France known as Flanders. Here they took over a section of the front, south east of Armentiers, facing the powerful, welltrained German army. Both sides were locked together in an endless array of trenches padded with sandbags and protected by thick belts of barbed wire. The Australians were issued with British steel helmets and gas masks, for the Germans were using poisonous gas in their attacks. The first months were favourably with the terrible conditions at Gallipoli. The troops enjoyed better rations, patrolled ‘No Man’s Land’ (the area between the opposing trenches) freely and watched aerial dogfights for amusement. Gradually, the raids on both sides increased and the troops came to appreciate their helmets and gas masks. The enemy raided first on 5 May and a month later an Australian raiding party, all volunteers, retaliated and succeeded in taking prisoners. More raids followed but they were nothing compared with the battle that was to come in July. On the first of that month, the British launched their tragically famous offensive on the Somme. The battle of the Somme was to become a series of battles against the Germans in northern France, lasting several months. Function: This text has the function of constructing history, it represents a shift from an individual focus into making experience collective. Language Features:  The text is set in time and sequenced through circumstances  It is in the past tense and focuses on collective participants  There is specific reference and a balance between event and participant focus Edited by Berti Nurul Khajati, for the Limited Community of STKIP Panca Sakti BEKASI

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Text D

Report/Descriptive

Everyday Life in Rome The life of a Roman person depended on whether they were rich, poor, or a slave, and on their sex and age. Life in Ancient Rome was not the same in 200BC as it was in AD200, and living conditions were different in Roman Gaul, Roman Africa and Rome itself. So there were many variations to the details described below. Clothes Roman men and women wore a short-sleeved tunic, tied at the waist. These were usually knee-length for men and ankle-length for women. Poor people, workmen and slaves would wear these tunics in the street, but the wealthy always wore a toga over their tunic. This was a large piece of cloth wrapped around the body and drapped over one shoulder. It was the symbol of the Roman citizen, a sign of status. Cloaks would be worn in cold weather, when leather shoes replaced open sandals. Slaves usually went barefoot. Eating Breakfast was usually bread, cheese and a little wine or water. Lunch was bigger meal and cold meat, vegetables and fruit, again with bread and wine or water. The main meal was dinner in the early evening, perhaps at five o’clock. There would be several courses. Beef, mutton and pork were the most common meats eaten, but rich people treated their guests to more exotic meats, including flamingos, storks, doves and dormice. Spoons and knives were used, but forks were not, because most eating was done with the fingers. Men usually lay on their side on a couch and helped themselves to food from a low central table; women and children often sat on upright chairs. For many Roman families, the meal would be served by slaves. Family Life The Roman wife share her husband’s social position outside the home and his authority inside it. Men were very much in control of their children, who were expected to be obediently loyal to their father even when they were grown up. This sense of duty helped the Roman army control its soldiers. Edited by Berti Nurul Khajati, for the Limited Community of STKIP Panca Sakti BEKASI

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Fathers found husbands and wives for their children during their teens. Girls could marry at 12, boys at 14. Function:  This text represents a further step in making experience collective; its function is to construct history  The focus shifts away from individual people to generic classes of people, doing generic things with generic artefacts Language Features:     

The text has an event or activity focus There is a shift to predominantly simple past tense The logical organisation is driven by the field There are generic participants and reference This text marks a significant shift in abstraction

Text E

Factorial Explanation

The End of Bushranging Bushranging died out of a number of reasons. The invention of the telegraph and the beginnings of modern police methods made the bush telegraph less successful. Newspaper urged the police to rid the country of the evil bushangers. The sympathy and help of the people lessened especially as bushranging became more violent. With more police after the bushrangers it was only natural that there would be shoot-outs, and not only bushrangers but also police would be wounded or killed. Function: This text marks a shift into interpretation. It shifts away from what happened to why it happened. Language Features:


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 The logical structure is text driven: the text features internal conjunction  There is extensive nominalisation  Human participant are generic

Text F

Argument

The Economy Wars are costly exercises. They cause death and destruction and put resources to non-productive uses but they also promote industial and technological change. This benefit does not mean that war is a good thing, but that it sometimes brings useful developments. The Second World War further encouraged the restructuring of the Australian economy on a manufacturing basis. Between 1937 and 1945 the value of industrial production almost doubled. This increase was faster than otherwise would have occured. The momentum was maintained in the postwar years and by 1954-55 the value of manufacturing output was three times that of 1944-45. The enlargement of Australia’s steel-making capacity, and of chemicals, rubber, metal goods and motor vehicles all owed something to the demands of the war. The war had acted as something of a hot-house for technological progress and economic change. The war also revealed inadequacies in Australia’s scientific and research capabilities. After the war strenuous efforts were made to improve these. The Australian National University was established with an emphasis on research. The Government gave its support to the advancement of science in many areas, including agricultural production. Though it is difficult to disentangle the effectsof war from other influemces, it is clear that future generations not only enjoyed the security and peace won by their fore-fathers but also the benefits of war-time economic expansion.


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Function:


This text represents the interpretive end of the mode scale. Its function is to present reasons, supported by evidence, as to why things happened as they did. Language Features:  The logical structure is text driven: the argument rather than the events drives the text  The text uses interesting tense shifts, simple present when it is generalising and past tense when referring to past event for exemplification  The text contains extensive nominalisation and abstraction and has both generic and specific reference

Summary As we move along the scale from action to reflection we move from experience to interpratation of experience. This movement can be represented as three aspects in the ‘doing’ of history with different genres performing different functions ineach phase. This is illustrated in the following diagram: A shift from individual experience to inerpretation of experience: individual experience

collective experience

interpretative of experience

A shift from the sources of history (the story) to the interpretation of history: sources of history

construction of history interpretation of history

Different selection of genre as the shifts in the first two aspects occur: recount narrative biography

historical recount report

factorial explanation argument, discussion


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Implication for Learning and Teaching There are potential benefits for learning and teaching in viewing genre and, more broadly, language as contributing to the construction of knowledge in different discpline areas.

Student Learning To make sense of a discpline area students need not only to be able to handle individual genres but also to be able to read (and in the more advanced years of education, to write) across genres. To do this effectively they need to be able to understand the purpose of each genre and its place in a set of genres. Therefore they need to be able to cope with shifts in language of various kinds. Why does this matter? Take history as an example: you often find a concentration on the two ends of the scale without the intermediate steps which enable the student to bridge the two ends. For example, typically in class the narrative end of the scale is often focus; classroom writing tasks are often geared towards the students recreating historical events and imagining themselves as participants. For example (Bowering et al 1987:30) Pretend you are Dirk Hartog or Abel Tasman and write a short report on New Holland to send back home. While these texts are often highly imaginative they are also often highly inaccurate. For example, in writing about oneself growing up in ancient Rome what often happens is that students simply recreate their own family and lifestyle ina new setting. What these tasks really do is trap many students into being able only to retell or invent the story. Even if they are accurate they in effect take the students backwards. You have to know the history first order to recreate it accurately. Edited by Berti Nurul Khajati, for the Limited Community of STKIP Panca Sakti BEKASI

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However, when it comes to assessment, the interpretive end of the scale is often tested, and student who produce texts from this end of the scale tend to get the best marks. Texts from the middle of the scale are often set tothe students to read in their own time. Consequently alot of students’ writing stays at the ‘action’ end of the scale where they have more experience and they are disadvantaged when it comes on testing. The net effect makes learning a rather hit and miss affair. Unfortunately, it is often the same students who tend to hit and the same who tend to miss. While being able to recreate historical events might be a reasonable starting point it is not a reasonable finishing point since studying history not only involve reconstructing the past; it also involve interpreting it. The kinds of writing that concentrate on the action end of the scale do not utilise the resources necessary for abstract interpretation. When students know what they are reading and why, and even better, when they are shown the relationships among the different genres, they are better equipped to shift along the scale, and they are more effectively apprenticed in different disciplines. With technical subjects the effect is perhaps more tangible and personal. If the action end of the scale is the focus and the rest is ‘picked up’ then someone is likely to lose a finger or an eye in the process. Students need to be able to decide what to do or not to do independent of simply following instructions. So the ability to move written instructions to action is essential.

Teaching Explicit knowledge about the role of language in a subject area helps teachers in the design of materials and in the structure of units and courses. For example knowledge about the role of different genres and the function of abstraction in history enables teachers to develop cycles in which students move progessively through the phases outlined above: sources of history construction of history interpretation of history.


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Activity 4 If you teach in a subject area other than the two discussed above, using textbooks or other materials try to develop a picture of the key genres and how they fit together in your subject area.

Activity 5 Think about and note down how you might use the information covered in this chapter in designing a unit of work in your subject area.


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Making sense of functional grammar-140816063126-phpapp02

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